


fatality is like ghosts in the snow

by adverbialstarlight



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Coldest Girl in Coldtown Fusion, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Corpses, Death, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, I suppose, Moral Ambiguity, Murder, On the Run, Other, Past Character Death, Road Trips, Vampire Politics, forgot that happens at the start sorry, juno's embarrassing thing for nureyev's teeth, lot of that sorry, no beta we die like benten, no knowledge needed though!, not too much on the gore side though, peter is a vampire!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:28:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26946712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adverbialstarlight/pseuds/adverbialstarlight
Summary: Juno and Rita went to one of Valles Vicky's infamous parties for a case late Saturday night. Early Sunday morning, Juno wakes surrounded by the dead, somehow having survived the vampire attack. But the problems aren't over yet, the vampires still lurk in the mansion and he and an infected Rita must work with the strange, unallied vampire Rex Glass to get out. After that, their next stop is the nearest Coldtown, a closed off city full of vampires. What could go wrong?aka a Coldest Girl in Coldtown AU (though no knowledge of the book is needed) featuring art from the amazingly talented Lyz!! Updating Saturdays (mostly).
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Peter Nureyev/Juno Steel, Rita & Juno Steel
Comments: 83
Kudos: 72





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello, please heed the warnings as, since there's vampires and such, things get a bit gory at times. this fic is a bit of a fusion of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, which is an excellent novel. it was so much fun to write as this book has a very special place in my heart and it fits super well. additionally, i commissioned art by my wonderful friend Lyz, aka WalangSignature, which will be embedded. see the piece and support her on twitter [here](https://twitter.com/WalangSignature/status/1315187442534637568)!!
> 
> title from vampires will never hurt you by my chemical romance. i think i'm hilarious

When Juno wakes up with a pounding headache and a terrible taste in his mouth, his first thought is that it must be a hangover. But then he smells the all too familiar stench of fresh blood and newly decaying flesh. What greets Juno when he opens his eyes is not a pile of case files and an empty vodka bottle, but rather a room full of slaughtered corpses and a chilling breeze coming from the open window.

Juno snaps awake immediately and sits up, recoiling as his hand brushes against one of the bodies. “Oh god,” he mutters to himself, suddenly nauseous. As he shakily stands up, doing his best to avoid staring directly at any one person, Juno tries to plug his nose against the stench. After far too many seconds, he’s tiptoed to the thankfully unlocked door and slips out in relief.

Juno supposes that _technically_ he’s supposed to be a man of the law, but sue a lady for not being the greatest around so much blood. And besides, he’s a PI not a cop now, and in the last five minutes he’s found all the evidence he needs.

Sometime last night, there was a vampire attack. Well, if you can even call it that when some moron opened that window in the first place— practically an invitation for vampires to come murder everyone, signed and sealed with scented glittery wax. Everyone knows the precautions needed to keep away vampires, but Juno supposes that sometimes rich bastards like the ones who attend parties of Valles Vicky feel like a special exception to just about everything.

Vampirism is fairly new on Mars, something that only began to crop up more frequently about two centuries ago when some newly turned, overly cocky vampire from Earth came over and, instead of killing his victims, went around leaving them to turn as well. Eventually this started to become pretty inconvenient— as having bitten humans, also known as someone who’s gone Cold, going around and draining other humans of all their blood and going on murder sprees isn’t so great for the economy, society, or anything— so in a moment of brief competency, Coldtowns became a thing.

Coldtowns are somewhat effective and a cute concept, high security and self quarantined cities full of vampires, safe and far away from the majority of the rest of the human population, but they’re not foolproof. After all, you can’t catch and sequester or kill every single vampire on Mars, and if you’ve got enough money buying a token out of Coldtown isn’t too difficult.

Either one really thirsty vampire or a small group that’s evaded being sent into Coldtown found its way into Vicky’s mansion and decided to have some fun. No matter how many vampires there were though, this is well above Juno’s line of work.

Finally out of the room of corpses, Juno’s brain is finally working a bit better and he remembers with a jolt that Rita had invited herself along on this investigation. Swearing, Juno stumbles down the hallway with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Rita!” Juno all but shouts as he practically falls down the large, empty halls. He moves blindly through the corridors, ignoring the terror trying to take over at every new corpse he sees. Distantly, Juno makes a mental note to call Captain Khan once he finds Rita.

Eventually he makes it downstairs and hears a muffled crash from the kitchen. He sprints through the main room and into the kitchen, looking around frantically. Another window is open in here, but there’s no one in sight.

Rita’s still missing and Juno can’t help but wonder if she’s gone too. He tries to push away the thought of her mauled corpse somewhere around here, eyes still open behind blood stained glasses, but it won’t go away as Juno tries to recall his detective skills and scans the area for _anything_.

“Hello?” he calls out shakily.

There’s a sound like muffled yelling from inside the pantry and Juno spins around. He nearly misses the knob in his rush to yank open the door, but what greets him stills everything in his body.

The good news? Rita is alive. The bad news, she’s tied back to back on the ground with a man with dark, slicked back hair and red eyes. It doesn’t take a genius to know this isn’t any regular human, but when he turns and grins at Juno, revealing sharp canines, Juno’s suspicions are confirmed. Someone bound Rita to a vampire, a hungry one from the looks of it, and left her in here to die. He’s going to fucking kill them.

“Rita, what the hell happened?” Juno breathes out, crouching down to cut the gag in her mouth but carefully staying out of the vampire’s reach.

“Mistah Steel!” Rita exclaims the moment the fabric falls around. She takes in a long breath. “Geez, I was scared me and Mistah Glass were gonna be stuck in here _forever_. Well, not forever, but enough for us to die or something. Oh, oh! Or for me to become a _real_ vampire, like in that one stream where this one girl in a little old town on Earth meets a family of vampires and gets caught in this—”

“Rita,” Juno interrupts, though secretly he’s never been more glad to hear her ramble about a stream. It means she’s alive which has become the new bare minimum in the past five minutes. “What happened?”

“You’re a detective are you not?” the vampire speaks up, his own mouth free but voice gravely. “Why don’t you use your detective skills and see?”

Juno rolls his eyes. “How did you know I’m a— you know what it doesn’t matter. The point is, this has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, but I think it does now. After all, I am the one who was rudely tied to miss Rita here,” he shrugs, teeth flashing in the dim light. “Rex Glass, a pleasure to meet you.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Juno sighs, hand moving up to his hair before thinking better of it. Instead he pulls out his plasma cutter and begins to work on the bindings, one eye cautiously watching Rex. “Was it just you who did this? Were you with anyone? Did you bite Rita, because I will stab you right here right now if you did—”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course not. But lower your voice, would you? We wouldn’t want even more trouble, I must say that this was quite the exhausting party, I could positively drop dead,” Rex says, shaking one wrist out before examining his sharp, crimson red nails.

Juno stares at him flatly. “Is now really the time for jokes?”

Rex merely grins at him and stands up. “Well, as lovely as it’s been talking to you, I really must be going. And you might want to check on our dear Rita, Detective Steel, I fear that she doesn’t look too well and might’ve been bitten by one of the others.” He nods to Rita, who’s now slumped forward in an only half conscious daze and gives a small wave as he picks up a large black blanket to drape over himself. “Toodles!”

Though Juno’s pretty sure Rex is trying for a smooth, dramatic exit, it’s ruined as he stumbles and falls over the moment he tries to take a step. Instinctively Juno steps forward to steady him. His grip tightens before Rex can pull away. “Yeah I don’t think you’re going anywhere. What do you mean others? How do I help Rita?”

“Oh detective,” Rex tsks, amused.

“Juno,” he corrects quickly.

Rex’s smile somehow widens and Juno hates to admit how much that shade of red is growing on him, staining the vampire’s lips a vibrant and dark that’s beautiful even after the gore Juno’s just seen. “Juno,” he repeats, brows raising. “A lovely name for a lovely lady. Goddess of protectors, if my memory serves. I can definitely see it in how much you care for your friend.”

“Don’t change the subject, when was Rita bitten?” Juno says, gritting his teeth.

“Oh not long ago I presume,” Rex says, bored. “Though I suppose if you really wish to know, the group trailing me arrived perhaps three or so hours ago got her, decided she might be a fun snack but then left her be while playing interrogator with me. Not much beyond that though, my memory is a bit foggy at the moment, drugs really don’t do much for the mind.”

Juno’s eyes narrow. “And why were they following you? Isn’t there some sort of… I dunno, solidarity around for vampires? Like, hey I like to murder humans or give them a bat plague and you do too, let’s commit a murder together.”

“They believed I had information on one of the ancient vampires, but I was merely here enjoying the party,” Rex says. “And besides, there’s no such thing as loyalty in this business. Now I really must go—”

“Are they still here? Are they going to kill us too?” Juno cuts him off.

Rex lets out a small laugh. “They’ve already tried. I think I’m alright.”

“Alright, but _she_ ,” Juno gestures to Rita, “is not. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?”

Rex shrugs. “Quarantine, perhaps, if she doesn’t want to go cold. Or, if you’d like to—”

He’s cut off by a loud crash from the main room. “Where is he?” one voice growls.

“Fuck if I know, the boss is the one who tied him up! He could be dead by now,” someone replies.

“If he’s not, he will be soon,” the first one replies.

“But I thought he had information on the Angel of Brahma,” a third, confused person says.

The first snorts. “So? The boss dipped to go wherever so it’s our reign now.”

There’s the sound of shuffling and footsteps, curtains being yanked shut and bodies being nudged for a clear path. Juno glances at the cracked open pantry door and then back to Rex, who’s looking around like the wall of chicken broth will become an emergency exit he can disappear through.

“What. The fuck,” Juno whispers quietly. “Alright, how do we get out of here?”

“Oh you know, I have my ways,” Rex says. “Now, if you excuse me I’ll be going.”

Juno sighs, pulling him back again by a rumpled sleeve. “Nope. Nice try, Glass but you don’t get to go if we don’t.”

“Why Juno, are you that fond of me already? I must say, you _are_ rather dashing but—” Rex begins, smirking.

“You’re helping me get Rita out of here,” Juno says, putting a hand over Rex’s face without thinking. After having a brother for the first half of his life, Juno’s well rehearsed in ways to get people to shut up.

Rex smiles and one of his sharp teeth press against Juno’s finger. “Are you sure that’s a wise decision, detective?”

Juno rolls his eyes. “I’ve survived a vampire before, I can do it again. Maybe with a little less death though, thanks.”

Rex looks caught off guard at this. His brows furrow in what looks to be sympathy. “Wait, what—”

“So how are we getting out of here?” Juno breezes back, hoping Rex will drop the subject.

Rex opens his mouth to say something but then shakes his head. “There’s a window in the kitchen that should suffice, but we cannot alert them that we are here,” he says absently, tugging at the black blanket around his shoulders. “I am not sure if you will be able to fit through, but Rita and I will be alright. You must cover her though, I fear that if she’s already going cold exposing her to so much light won’t be ideal.”

Juno sighs heavily. “Dammit. Okay, that doesn’t matter, I’ve got this. There’s probably something around here…” He turns around quietly as he can, squinting in the dim pantry for anything that could shield Rita. Juno spares a quick glance for his friend, making sure Rex hasn’t decided to drain her of all her blood yet. She’s asleep now, breathing heavily and muttering quietly as she snores.

Finally, Juno spots a thick, beige sheet neatly folded in the corner. He moves to grab it but in the process a metal handled broom clatters to the ground with a loud clang, bringing down a few other items with it. Juno freezes, cursing under his breath.

“Did you hear that?” one of the vampires says from outside.

“Hear what?”

“From the kitchen, I could’ve sworn I just heard something,” they hiss, drawing closer.

“Bullshit, I thought we got rid of them all hours ago,” scoffs the third vampire.

One of them gasps. “Do you think it’s him? The Angel of Brahma?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, even if he’s still alive, he would never be stupid enough to stick around here,” says the first. “Still, I think we should check it out.”

Rex makes a quiet noise of incredulity. “Rude,” he mutters. “Juno, we must go, _now_.”

“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Juno whispers back. He yanks at the sheet again but it doesn’t budge under the weight of an ancient Roomba. “Alright, well that won’t work.”

“Oh, I probably have something useable,” Rex says casually. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small plastic pouch labeled _Pitch-Black Poncho: For Your Darkest Day Needs!_ and shakes it out until it becomes a full, hooded poncho. Then, he extends it towards Juno in offering. “Try this.”

Juno stares at him incredulously but snatches the poncho from Rex’s hand. “You couldn’t have whipped that out _before_ I secured our certain death?”

Rex raises his hands innocently. “You told me you had it, I saw no reason to interfere.”

“I— unbelievable,” Juno says, shaking his head. “Let’s just go.”

He crouches down and does his best to pull the poncho over Rita’s head, startling when she suddenly opens her eyes and loudly says, “Mistah Steel? Are you tryin’ to make me buy one of ya weird trench coat thingies again? I told you that just the fedora’s fine!”

“Rita, be quiet,” Juno hisses. “We don’t have much time but me and Glass are going to get you out of here, just… don’t be too loud.”

“Ooh!” Rita exclaims. Then, quieter, “Ooh! Is this one of those stealthy missions like in that stream where the jewel thief needs to get outta the museum but the guard who’s her sworn nemesis slash love interest is there and she’s on guard that night so the thief needs to—”

“Yes,” Juno says quickly. He’s not sure he’s even heard of that one, if he had then he probably fell asleep, but that hardly matters right now. “C’mon, get up. Glass, help get Rita to the window and I’ll hold them off. If you hurt her though, I will—”

“Make a very creative death threat, yes detective, I’m aware,” Glass says. He flashes a smile at Rita. “Come along, Juno will be right behind us.”

Rita looks confused for a moment but then her eyes focus as she sees Rex and it melts. She begins to giggle, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear despite the hood of the poncho covering it. “Oh, of _course_ Mistah Glass.”

Rex grins back easily. “Yes, that’s it. Quietly now.”

The two of them inch towards the door and Juno grabs his blaster from the holster on his belt, checking the settings and pressing his ear to the wall for any sounds of the vampires. There’s no sound anymore, not of talking or moving, or anything, just the plain stillness of a mansion of corpses.

He nods to Rex, who slowly opens the pantry door and creeps out with Rita under his arms, pulling the blanket over his face as he does. Juno squints as the light filters into the pantry but then steps out as well, blinking away bright spots.

“Alright, let’s go,” Rex says quietly.

The kitchen door slams shut the moment he finishes speaking and from the shadows three vampires step out.

“Got ya,” one of them says smugly. “Two humans, still alive. I must say, I’m impressed.”

Their companions chitter in amusement like the backup posse for a categorized mean girl in some Barbie movie and Juno has to contain the urge to roll his eyes. “Go,” he says quietly to Rex, blaster pointed and gaze set on the vampires.

“Oh, I’m afraid it’s too late for that,” the lead vampire says. “We’ve got you cornered now.”

Rex speaks up, voice confident and smoother than it had been minutes earlier. “I would not be so sure of that. But please, do tell the master that I say hello. Until we meet again.”

With that, he yanks the curtains away from the window and rams a fist through the glass. Rex doesn’t hesitate or even shake away the glass before jumping through, Rita under his arm, and disappears. It’s less tactful that Juno would’ve hoped for, but it’s an escape nonetheless.

He turns back to the baffled looking vampires, shooting at the leader before saluting. “Well, I think my dead mother’s calling, bye.”

Juno braces himself before lunging at the window, wincing as the glass embeds itself in his coat and his skin. It’s going to be a bitch getting it off later. Dammit Rex, why did he have to punch the glass instead of open the window like a normal person?

It takes a bit of wiggling to get his shoulders through, Ben had been the one to get a more lithe form of the two, but he’s not overly concerned as the two vampire goons are screaming about their leader going down. Perhaps the knowing this is what makes Juno too cocky.

Right before he slides out of the window and falls to the gravel waiting ten feet below, the familiar feeling of sharp, hungry teeth brush against his ankle. “Shit!” Juno yells and thrashes until his foot connects with the vampire’s face.

He wiggles the rest of the way out and doesn’t even complain when his body aches as he makes contact with the ground, just picks himself up after a moment and stumbles towards his piece of shit car, where Rita’s led Glass and they wait by the doors.

Juno aggressively pats his pockets until he finds the keys, unlocking the car then throwing himself into the driver’s seat. Fucking hell, he really could use a drink. Rex lays Rita down carefully in the back before coming up to sit in the passenger’s seat. He buckles his seatbelt and then turns to Juno expectantly. “Where to, detective?”

“What?” Juno asks. “I thought you were going to, I dunno, disappear now. Wasn’t that your plan?”

Rex waves a hand. “Oh please, my plan was to borrow a car anyway. I don’t have much a destination in plan. So what will it be, Juno? East perhaps? Maybe south, I heard there’s a lovely rubber duck store on the way to the Cerberus Coldtown.”

Juno gets ready to object, maybe make a snarky comment then kick Glass out of his car, but then there’s shouting and the front door of Vicky’s mansion is busted open and the vampires stumble out looking positively murderous. He winces. It’s not a surprise he pissed off some people and now they want to kill him, that’s part of the job description, but vampires are less than ideal.

Juno locks the car and shoves the key into the ignition. “Alright yep fine, we’ll figure this out later.” And with that, he floors the gas pedal and books it back towards Hyperion.

Though it takes a while for Juno to relinquish his death grip on the steering wheel, once they’re out on the empty road cutting through the Martian desert, a semblance of mental clarity returns. Without warning, he pushes on the brakes, bringing the car to a halt.

Rex grunts as he’s thrown forward, shooting a glare at Juno, but Rita, securely strapped into the back seat, merely groans. “Mistah Steeeeeeel,” she whines groggily. “I told ya to stop speeding over potholes like that. It’s really quite rude.”

“I must agree with Rita here,” Rex says. “Would you mind telling us why you’ve stopped in the middle of a road? Surely this was not your destination.”

“We can’t go back to Hyperion,” Juno sighs, leaning back into his seat. “Not with _you_ , and not because of us. I may not like some of the people there, but there’s no point bringing a full fledged vampire and two probably infected into the city.”

Rex turns to him. “Two?”

Juno shrugs. “I dunno if it’s gonna stick this time but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Not that I’m gonna give you much choice, but how do you feel about Coldtown?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wooo and that's chapter 1!! happy halloween season, next part will be up hopefully soon if school decides to give me a little break to finish writing this, thanks so much for reading :D once again you can find lyz's art [here](https://twitter.com/WalangSignature/status/1315187442534637568). it's good shit, trust me.
> 
> leave a kudos/comment/basically just read to make me cry and until next time, catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com) if you'd like


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so since im actually keeping up with writing this alright i'm gonna officially say saturday updates for this unless otherwise stated!! and now enjoy what anne (who also has [a brilliant vampire peter fic up rn that you should go read right now](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27000526)) called "Juno’s embarrassing thing for teeth"

“How exactly do you plan to make this work? You are aware that once you’ve entered a Coldtown you won’t be able to get out, yes?”

Juno shrugs. “But we have you,” he says, not looking away from the road. It’s completely flat and empty, another car hasn’t passed them since dusk, but Juno doesn’t want to be reminded more than he has to of the vampire sitting next to him. Of the Cold possibly infecting both him and Rita, inching its way through their veins as he drives.

“And what’s that—” Rex breaks off. He’s silent for a long moment and Juno finds his grip tightening ever so slightly on the steering wheel. Finally he says, “Juno, are you planning to play bounty hunter here?” He sounds far too amused given his role in this plan, but Juno’s quickly learning that’s just who Rex Glass is.

The most common way to get a token out of Coldtown is a fuck ton of money. There’s a few philanthropists like Ramses O'Flaherty who make hefty donations sometimes in order to get one unlucky human trapped in a Coldtown out, usually for the sake of good publicity. There’s also the vampires who make billions off of their streams documenting grand parties and scandals within their Coldtowns like the Kanagawa family, who will release a subordinate for the sake of amusement and good entertainment. Even these cases, however, are rare.

The second, less pleasant way, is to become a bounty hunter. Since law enforcement never does its job on any planet no matter the circumstances, the Martian higher government did as any smart government does and convinced every day citizens to risk their lives and do their jobs with a pretty incentive. Bounty hunters capture vampires outside of Coldtowns and if they can bring one in alive, are rewarded a hefty sum of money or an exit token.

It’s a fool’s job and most hunters end up dead, but the ones who are able to succeed become Kanagawa level rich— and usually without an essential limb or organ by the time their mark is turned in, but that’s hardly the point.

“Why not? You’re here, bringing you in would get Rita a token out of Coldtown when she gets better, and something tells me that you’d find a way out if you really want to,” Juno says, bored. An exit sign pops up in the distance and Juno speeds up to meet it.

Rex laughs. “Right you are, Juno. I am a man of many, _many_ skills, vampire or not. But what makes you think I won’t escape before then?”

Juno pulls off the road and into the deserted parking lot of a seedy gas station. He shuts down the engine and turns to Rex, leaning in until their noses nearly brush. “Because,” he says lowly.

He watches Rex move closer almost unconsciously, looking up at Juno through dark lashes and a dangerous, ridiculously attractive smirk on his lips. Juno almost regrets it as he leans back and clicks the handcuffs around Rex’s wrists. “Now you’re under arrest.”

Rex blinks in genuine surprise. He looks down at his bound wrists and laughs. “Oh Juno, I see. But surely you’re aware I’ll be able to slip out of these without an issue?”

Juno shrugs. “It’s the thought that counts. And besides, the sun’s coming up so you’re going to be stuck with us for the next few hours unless you want to be burnt to a crisp so I’d shut it. You want anything?”

To his surprise, Rex only nods. “Alright, I suppose you have a point. Honey roasted peanuts, if you’d be so kind.”

“Seriously?” Juno says, brows raised.

“What, did you expect me to request the blood of a deer?” Rex asks incredulously. “I’d hoped you had a better image of me than that, Juno.”

“Forgive me for having no _image_ of you at all, Rex,” Juno sighs. “I don’t even know you, maybe you like to suck the blood of small children. How’d you even find your way into that party anyway, huh?”

Rex is silent, lips thinking. “That is not of any concern right now.”

“And that’s exactly what I mean,” Juno says, teeth gritted. “I might be letting you sit in my car right now, and I’m thankful you didn’t kill my friend or leave her for dead, but we are not friends. I don’t trust you, at _all_.”

“Are you finished?” Rex inquires after a few moments, blinking boredly. “I can tell it’s been a long morning for you, especially given everything that’s happened at Valles Vicky’s, but there’s no reason for such a tantrum because of it. And besides, I’m feeling a bit peckish myself and would absolutely love some peanuts right about now.”

Juno growls in frustration but shoves his wallet into his pocket aggressively, reaching for the door handle. “If I find you’ve gone _anywhere_ —”

“Yes, I know, detective,” Rex says almost fondly. “Rita and I will be right here when you get back.”

Though he’s not sure how much he can trust that, Juno climbs out of the car and starts quickly for the gas station door. He gathers everything quickly, even Rex’s stupid honey roasted peanuts, and tosses them onto the counter. It takes everything in Juno not to look out the window and make sure Glass hasn’t decided to steal the car and go on his merry way as the cashier tiredly begins to scan the items.

“You in some sort of rush?” she asks, completely uninterested. When Juno walked up in his bloodstained clothing, she didn’t even bat an eye at it. The pack of bubble gum goes into the plastic bag and the woman slowly picks up the next item.

Juno holds back a sigh. He rocks back on his heels and scans the advertisements behind her. Most of them are pretty boring, a lost cat, a roommate listing, but there’s one that catches his eye. It’s a wanted poster from the official Mars Coldtown Council, seeking out the Angel of Brahma. He’s seen plenty of posters for loose vampires before, but there’s something different about this one. There’s no picture on it for one, just a large reward above the phone number and a warning to approach him with caution. And more importantly, he’s heard that name once before.

Though the previous few hours have blended into one murky hellscape, Juno recalls the vampires in the kitchen discussing him. Juno has never heard the name before today but given then way they’d talked about him like some sort of urban legend— which seems a bit hypocritical given that only 300 years ago vampires were urban legends— and the hefty price over his head, Juno can only assume this vampire is something special. He makes a note to ask Rita to poke around a bit more on it later.

For now, Juno hands over a twenty dollar bill, grabs the grocery bag, and speed walks back over to the car.

Though Rex is out of it now, he’s leaning against the rusted hood of Juno’s car and reading a beaten up magazine that he found on the ground. The handcuffs are dangling loosely in one of his belt loops and Rex pushes his gold rimmed glasses up his nose. As Juno steps outside, Rex looks up and grins at him.

Juno just sighs and tosses him the smallest pack of peanuts the store provided. “Get back in, we’re on a tight schedule still,” he grumbles.

“Why of course, Juno,” Rex says, catching the peanuts easily. He tears it open and dumps a few peanuts into his mouth. “Where to next?”

Before Juno can reply, his comms buzz in his pocket. He sighs deeply, tearing his gaze away from an all too smug Rex and pulls it out. Juno fumbles with his comms for a minute, squinting at the bright screen until his eyes adjust. He does a double take when he sees the screen. It’s a blocked number, but Juno has a pretty good suspicion on who it is.e does

They haven’t talked in so long, and yet she’s calling. Something must’ve happened, or maybe she needs something from him again. Or maybe it’s a trap. Juno can never be sure. All he knows is that somehow, she _always_ knows when he’s fucked something up, no matter what she’s doing or where she is.

“Is there a problem?” Rex asks, head tilting. It snaps Juno out of whatever daze he’d be in and he shakes his head slightly before hitting the receive call button.

“Sasha—”

“Juno, is that you? Juno, what the actual fuck!” he’s cut off by the voice of Sasha Wire, in all her serious, professional Dark Matters glory. It’s a voice Juno hasn’t heard over the phone in a long time, and even longer in person. He’d missed her, but hearing the sharpness in her words makes him think that maybe it’s better that she’s always away. “Where are you right now?”

Juno glances at Rex and then outside. “Uhh, my car?” he says. It comes out more like a question than a statement.

“That’s not what I meant Juno,” Sasha says, more collected than she was a few seconds ago. “I heard the news. About what happened at Valles Vicky’s party. Are you still there?”

“What— how’d you even find out about that already? Wait, you know what I don’t wanna know,” Juno says. He runs a hand through his hair and reaches into the bag for the M&Ms. “I— we left. Like half an hour ago. We’re at a rest stop south of Hyperion. Why? Don’t you have Dark Matters business to be taking care of right now?”

Sasha sighs. “Juno, please consider what you just said. There was a mass vampire attack sometime last night. This _is_ Dark Matters business.”

Juno rolls his eyes. “Alright, whatever, then why’re you calling _me_?” he asks, words garbled by the chocolate.

“Because I— are you seriously eating right now?” Sasha says incredulously. “Juno I swear to— actually, I don’t care. The thing is, not a single live person was found in that mansion. I thought you were _dead_ , and though it’s hard for you to believe, that made me worried. It would’ve killed Mick, you know.”

“But not you,” Juno says sarcastically. Underneath it though is pleasant surprise. He never thought Sasha hated him, but they’ve not always seen eye to eye and the reminder she cares is, admittedly, nice.

Sasha sighs again. “Okay, I don’t have time for this. Just, where are you going? You and Rita headed back to Hyperion, right?”

Juno pauses for a long moment. From the corner of his eye, he sees Rex snicker. “Well I mean…”

“ _Juno_ ,” Sasha says sternly. “I will ask you only once more. Where. Are you. Going? Your answer better be Hyperion and not Cerberus. Before you ask, it doesn’t take a genius to guess that if both you and Rita are still alive, one of you’s been infected. And besides, I know you well enough to know exactly what you’re going to do with that.”

“What’s the point of asking if you’re so confident in knowing exactly what’s happening right now?” Juno grumbles.

“Juno,” Sasha says pointedly.

“Sasha,” Juno says mockingly. There’s silence on Sasha’s end and he sighs. “Look, I’ve got it handled, okay? We’re not going to be there forever, just enough time for Rita to recover and then we’ll be out again. I have a plan, ease off.”

“Goddammit Juno,” Sasha says. “I know this is probably _useless_ given that it’s you—”

“Hey!”

“—but please stay away from Coldtown,” she finishes. “I know after everything that happened with Benten you want to do things differently and you think this might help more, but it’s not the same. Nothing is like what happened to him. Coldtown isn’t safe for her, it’s not safe for either of you. And there’s something… wrong with the Cerberus Coldtown, it’s only going to be worse. Dark Matters has been keeping an eye out but I cant guarantee your safety there.”

Juno stiffens at the mention of Ben but brushes it off quickly once he remembers Rex is still listening. The vampire is looking at him curiously, like he’s a crossword he can’t quite decipher. Juno looks down at the steering wheel. “There’s no such thing as guaranteed safety anywhere, Sash,” he says tersely. “Thanks for your concern, but we can handle it.”

Sasha’s voice is quieter when she replies. “I know you’re stubborn and petty, but Juno, something bad is going to happen there. I’m not trying to coddle you but you need to turn back now. Go crash with Mick, I’m sure he’d be happy to help take care of Rita while she’s recovering. Whatever you do, just do _not_ go to Coldtown. Do you hear me, Juno? Promise me you won’t go.”

He wants to listen to her. He wants to listen to her so badly it almost hurts, but when Juno catches a glimpse of Rita passed out in the backseat, Juno knows he doesn’t have much of a choice. Sasha’s concerns might be valid, but right now there are bigger problems than some perp in Cerberus Dark Matters is after. Mentally apologizing to her and feeling the guilt burn in his chest, Juno says, “I’ve gotta go. It was nice talking to you again Sasha, I’ll talk to you again… sometime.”

“Juno,” Sasha begins, but nothing follows. He waits a few moments but she remains silent. He hangs up.

For a long minute, Juno leans forward against the steering wheel with his eyes squeezed shut. _Get your shit together_ , he scolds himself. But there’s not enough intent behind it and instead he feels exhausted all of a sudden. Juno wants to go home and curl up in bed, listen to Rita’s stream through the thin walls and doze off after everything that’s happened. It’s a pipedream, but for just a moment he lets himself imagine it.

Then Rex says, “Well that was a fascinating conversation. Tell me, what type of circles have you been in as to personally know a Dark Matters agent? And this Benten… I presume something terrible happened to him. I’m terribly sorry.”

Juno grits his teeth and lifts his head, eyes nearly murderous. They have to be, or else they’d be spilling angry tears. “Not now, Rex. Just shut up for a minute.”

Rex looks conflicted but nods. “You’re right, that was a bit out of line. My apologies, Juno, I’ll give you a moment.”

Juno lets out a small sigh of relief. But then Rex says, “So will you be doing it? Are you going to return to Hyperion as the agent wishes?”

He looks back at Rita and Juno can’t help but turn too. She’s muttering something in her sleep now about the sewer rabbits. Mid-sentence, her entire body jolts, filling the car with silence for a terribly long second, and then she returns. Something in Juno’s chest tightens. Whether it’s from fondness or concern or maybe a combination of the two and more, it steels Juno’s resolve. He shakes his head.

“Especially with you, we’re better off in Coldtown,” Juno says. Shakily, he puts the key into the ignition and the car hums to life. “Put on your seatbelt, Rex, we’ve got a long way to go.”

Rex gives him an odd look but nods. “Of course. I will leave you to it.”

This time, he actually stays quiet. Juno’s not sure whether to be grateful or not.

Eventually Rita wakes up again and the car is once again filled with a quiet stream of chatter, but there’s still a stiffness in the air. Juno doesn’t tell Rita about Sasha’s call and thankfully Rex doesn’t decide to bring it up either. Small mercies, Juno supposes.

“So Rita,” Rex says. “When we arrive in Coldtown, what do you suppose you’ll do first?”

In the rearview mirror Juno watches her eyes light up. “Mistah Glass, I thought you’d never ask!” she exclaims. “Unless you live under a rock like Mistah Steel, you know all those streamers there, right? They’ve got their big parties and all this money and they’re _vampires_. It’s so cool! Cerberus Coldtown is a bit less partying and they kinda like their crime stuff— nothing too big, there’s not _usually_ any murder, don’t gimme that look Mistah Steel. Anyway, there’s these streamers who like to show stuff about living in Coldtown and I saw this whole store shaped like a mushroom! A mushroom, Mistah Glass, can you believe that?”

“That’s quite fascinating,” Rex says obediently.

“And in this big mushroom, they sell _candy_!” Rita exclaims. She jumps in her seat enough to make the car shake a bit and even Juno has to bite back a smile.

After everything that’s happened, it’s calming to hear Rita tell some weird story about a mushroom shaped candy store she’s seen in a stream. Her voice is grounding, even more so than the steady white and yellow lines on the road leading to Cerberus. Juno can only hope that after all this is over, that part of her won’t change.

As much as she teases him for his incompetence with tech and disconnection from popular culture, Juno’s not an idiot. He’s heard the stories about what can happen to people after they go Cold. Sometimes, vampirism will make a person into a monster in more ways than just one.

Maybe Ben would’ve become one of them. Maybe he’d have stayed the same. They never got a chance to find out, but Juno hopes that it’ll be the latter for Rita. If the Cold sticks around for Juno, though, he’s not sure. Secretly he thinks he’d end up being terrible.

After all, some say the Cold doesn’t change a person, it only peels back the layers and shows what was there all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow what a drama queen, amirite? anyway its time for that spicy ~worldbuilding~. more to come next saturday if midterms next week dont murder me!! until then, you can catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com) (warning though i rarely use my tumblr anymore and i WILL be shocked if you follow me there)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh man this ones a bit longer than the last here we go gays

The tiny jukebox styled speaker on the table is quiet, the undertones of static consistent as it blares out an old rock song about Jupiter, but Juno doesn’t pay it too much mind. Instead, he shovels eggs into his mouth. It’s around seven in the morning and they’ve stopped in a 30th century style diner for some food— at Rita’s insistence, despite what you’d think she _does_ eat non-salmon chip food sometimes— before finding a place to sleep.

Though Rita and Rex both offered so Juno could take a nap, neither of them are currently— or ever— reliable enough to trust to operate the car over the next four hours. Instead Juno, half asleep, pulled into the first parking lot he could find and the trio piled into this roadside diner.

Juno had not intended to order anything but a black coffee, but Rita managed to bully him into a full meal and as much as he hates to admit it, she was right to. The shock and adrenaline has kept him going for the past several hours but now the exhaustion and hunger is creeping in again. All Juno can do to hold it back is bite off another piece of hash brown.

Across the booth sits Rex, ridiculously smug and relaxed as ever. The handcuffs are long gone, having been dropped on his seat when they parked, and he’s got a cup of hot green tea in front of him but has been too busy exclaiming about every little diner detail in the diner to take a sip.

“Why Juno, would you look like that,” Rex remarks. He points at one of the framed photos— an actual, physical photograph, printed on paper and in an aluminum frame instead of a digital replica— and beams. “I believe that’s a fox in this. Have you ever seen a fox before? I’d like to think they’re rather soft.”

Juno raises a brow. Not bothering to finish swallowing his food he says flatly, “Foxes have been extinct for two hundred years. They never even made it onto Mars.”

Rex scoffs. “I’m fully aware of that, detective. I meant in the Hyperion Museum. I hear the museums on Mars have quite good collections.”

“That’s because it’s all been stolen,” Juno says, still unamused.

“My favorite type of artifact,” Rex beams.

Juno is reminded suddenly of how sharp his fangs are, how they could rip his flesh open before he could even blink. He tries not to be too excited at the prospect. Looking away, Juno refocuses on his eggs and shrugs. “Never been much of a fox fan, though.”

Rex hums. “A shame. Perhaps I need to show you the beauty of a fox sometime.”

Juno doesn’t reply. Instead of looking at Rex for any longer, his gaze drifts over to Rita. She’s sitting on one of the bar stools near the stove, chattering away with the diner owner as the older woman cooks sausage. The hood of the black-out poncho is nearly slipping off her head and instinctually Juno wants to pull it back up for her. He’s not entirely sure how much the sun will affect her at this stage but it’s better to be safe than sorry.

“So Miss Deb,” Rita says loudly, leaning forward conspiratorially. “What do ya know about vampires?”

Deb snorts. “You’d be surprised, kiddo,” she says. “If I’m being honest, I probably know _too_ much. I came from the Outer Rim, you know, they’ve been around there for a bit longer there so we picked up some things. And it’s not just all of that stuff they show in those streams, those won’t show you shit.”

Rita giggles, her eyes widening in interest. “Ooh, ooh, like what Miss Deb? I mean you don’t gotta tell me but that’s _soooooo_ cool.”

“Well I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” Deb says. The sausages sizzle as she flips them over with a deft and practiced hand, the other on her hip as she thinks. “I think we’ve got the time for it. I’ve met a few in my time, they were quite interesting.”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Rita says. “What’re they like? Are they like in that one stream _My Sister is a Mermaid Vampire but I’m Human and No One Knows Why_?”

Juno raises an eyebrow, glancing at the real life vampire sitting across from him. He supposes it’s smart of her to pretend that they _aren’t_ traveling with a vampire, that there’s one sitting in the diner, but he can’t help but smile. If this woman knows as much about vampires as she claims to anyway, she probably knows already. He catches Rex’s eye and there’s a glean of amusement there too.

Deb chuckles, grabbing a plate to put the cooked meat on. “Not exactly. There were a whole different types hanging around there, without no Coldtowns and Council.”

“No Coldtowns?” Rita exclaims. “Why’s that?”

Usually Juno would remind Rita to let Deb talk about now, sometimes she needs a reminder, but Deb doesn’t seem to mind at all. Instead she grins easily and places a few sausage links in front of her, waving away any offer of extra money. It’s clear Rita’s got this one covered. Deb seems to understand her, she’s patient and hasn’t asked questions beyond their breakfast orders since walking in.

“Well Rita,” Deb says, “There’s no Coldtowns there _anymore_. The concept of a Coldtown was actually started on Brahma, they got the first influx after vamps made it off Earth because of the distance. Their capital, New Kinshasa was closed off and became the first Coldtown.”

Across from Juno, Rex’s hand falters on his mug of tea and it clinks back down on the coaster. Rita and Deb don’t seem to notice but Juno, though sometimes an idiot, is still a detective. He’s observed Rex enough the past few hours to know that he’s far too elegant and composed to simply lose his grip on a mug like that.

He turns to him again and sees a strange, indecipherable expression. Rex’s knuckles are pale as he picks the mug up again and the smile he sends Juno’s way is tight and forced. Juno knows that they’ve all been superfluous, nothing but flirtation without anything deep or genuine, but this is different. Something Deb said has hit a nerve, perhaps a memory.

Juno tilts his head, makes a note to ask about it again later, but leaves Glass be for now and tunes back into Deb’s story.

“The New Kinshasa Coldtown was not as refined as the ones we see today,” she tells Rita. “While many now are self governed with high security on the outside, they took a more direct approach. They called it the Guardian Angel System and directly tracked each citizen inside. If a vampire or a human did anything out of line that might threaten the city, they were killed on sight. It became more deadly than the vampires living there, and though it kept humans safe it was not the way.”

Deb’s smile is sad as she turns around to pull some eggs out of the fridge under the cabinet. From her deeply wrinkled eyes and nearly white hair, Juno wonders if she might’ve lived through the tail end of it on Brahma. The way she’s telling it sounds too personal to be a regurgitated story.

“But then a revolutionary came along,” Deb continues. “Someone who had a chance to take down the system and get those who weren’t vampires out of there without having to sell everything they had and were. We called him the Angel of Brahma.”

Rita turns around so quickly on her stool that it startles both Deb and Juno. “Mistah Steel!” she stage whispers. “That’s the one those bad guys were after, right?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Deb says, amused. “He was quite something. A young, newly turned vampire if the stories are right. He managed to deactivate the system, God knows how. Naturally, things on Brahma spun into chaos after that, but it didn’t matter too much because everyone was free. The Guardian Angel System was gone and we could leave, some for the first time since birth. It’s quite a feat, many were— and are— grateful for the Angel, but some vampires don’t exactly agree. Something happened in the resistance, no one quite knows what, and he was seen as a traitor.”

“Did they kill him?” Rita gasps.

Juno finally speaks up, “Rita, they wouldn’t have been looking for the guy if he was dead. Well, more dead, I mean.”

Deb chuckles. “Well, they’ve certainly been trying to. Goodness knows if that ever happens though, I hear that he was a slippery one. The only way they’d be able to nab the Angel is if he waltzed right back onto Brahma, or maybe even Cerberus Coldtown with all the big names there now, and no idiot of his caliber would do that.”

Rita opens her mouth to say something but Rex clears his throat pointedly. “Well, as fun as it is to listen to this enthralling gossip, I’d think it best for us to get going, right detective?”

 _Interesting_ , Juno thinks, studying Rex carefully. There’s definitely something he knows about this, and while Juno doesn’t care to keep up with all the latest vampire politics and gossip, he has a feeling this might be important. Especially if they’re going to Coldtown.

Though he’d be fine with listening to Deb talk a bit more and gather some information, Juno decides that following Rex’s request might get him some more direct answers. There’s clearly something on the tip of his tongue, a larger piece to the mystery that has been Rex Glass, and Juno, wants to find out. He has to know the answer. Or maybe he’s just nosy. Either way, he _is_ a detective.

He shovels the last of his food into his mouth and nods. “Yeah, we’ve got a long way to go still,” he says. “We should probably get going now.”

Juno catches Rex’s eye, and he finds something akin to gratitude there as he watches Rex neatly lay out two ten dollar bills on the table. He doesn’t care too much about that, he’s not doing it for the sympathy. It’s a favor for now, to get some answers.

“Aww, but Mistah Steel,” Rita whines, face dropping into a pout. “We was just gettin’ to the good stuff.”

“No, I’d hate to keep you from being on your way,” Deb says kindly. She grabs a dish towel and steps around the counter to collect their cleared plates. “It was lovely to meet you, Rita and company. Best wishes on your road trip.”

Rex slides out of the booth quickly when Deb’s eyes move to him, giving him an odd smile. “Well, I’ll be in the car, then,” he says unceremoniously. With that, he high tails it out of the diner. Juno’s never seen anyone so eager to get into his car.

He rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna check on Mr. Drama Queen, Rita go wash your hands. I don’t want maple syrup all over my car.”

Rita sticks her tongue out. “I’m older than you, boss,” she sing songs. Still, she hops off the stool and wanders into the bathroom.

Juno snorts fondly. Suddenly Deb is next to him and she says, “She’s quite the character, isn’t she?”

He jumps, startled, and steps back a few inches. “Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

Deb seems unbothered as she passes and dumps the plates into a large sink. “Be careful with that one,” she says suddenly.

“Who, Rita?” Juno asks, brows furrowing.

“You know which one I mean,” Deb says, waving a hand easily. Her voice is light and pleasant, like they’re discussing garden plans. “He’s one of them. And not one of the weaklings either.”

Juno can only stare at her for a long moment. He supposes it’s not too hard to tell, given her vampire knowledge and Rex’s lacking subtlety, but he didn’t think she’d say something. Finally he stammers out, “Er yeah. Right. Thanks.”

Unsure what else to do, he speed walks out of the diner.

Rex is sitting on the rusted hood of the car, staring up at the lightening sky as his sharp nails tap to a rhythm on his leg. There’s a stiffness to his shoulders still despite the relative ease in his posture and he keeps glancing back at the diner.

“So Rex,” Juno says as he approaches. “Anything you wanna share with the class?”

Rex lowers his chin and regards Juno for a long moment. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, detective.”

Juno sighs. “I’m not an idiot. You’re connected to that whole Angel of Brahma business, aren’t you?”

“I don’t believe I need to tell you that,” Rex dodges. “It’s frankly none of your business. And besides, the Angel is just a silly rumor from the Outter Rim, there are so many topics that are _far_ more interesting.”

“Glass,” Juno bites out, brushing off the flirtation at the end of Rex’s words. “If you’re part of… whatever all that is, I’d like to know before towing you around in my goddamn car.”

“We all want things, Juno,” Rex says. He examines his nails then glances up through his lashes, bored. “Doesn’t mean we get it.”

Juno tries and fails to form a response once then three times before giving up. He groans, running a hand through his hair and silently begs Rita to hurry up. “You know what, whatever, just get in the damn car.”

“Since you asked so kindly.”

Rita remains inside for a few more minutes, and in that time Juno sits on the hood of his car and pointedly ignores the gaze of Rex Glass. He tries to take some deep breaths, calm down a bit before they’re stuck in the car together again.

Juno’s not completely stupid. He knows that this is a bear that should not be poked, not until Rex actually _wants_ to tell him anything, but he can’t feel a long dormant sense of panic arise at the thought of not knowing. Bad things have always happened when Juno didn’t know, especially when vampires are involved.

All of the Kanagawas. Diamond and their fucked up family of bounty hunters. Benzaiten.

Before he can spiral too far into his own thoughts, Juno watches the door open and Rita skips out. The poncho is back over her head, encasing her more like a taco tortilla than a coat. Juno can’t help but smile despite how much time she took. Rita’s always got good timing, he muses.

“Alright, you ready to go?” he asks, sliding off the hood of the car.

“Yep! I looked like ya said and my comms say that the best motel is just a bit south of here,” Rita reports. She waddles past him and into the back seat, holding her comms out so Juno can see the map.

He’s not sure what some of the symbols make but the path is clear enough, so Juno nods. “Alright, thanks.”

When Juno opens the driver side door and starts up the shitty car, Rex, for once, says nothing. The ten minute drive is entirely silent except for Rita’s occasional directions and the rumbling of the engine. The tension in the air is thick, and Juno’s been too much a coward to look his way.

Despite this, when they check in Juno only books two rooms. Rex is still an unknown variable and could slip out, commit murder, or both if given a room to himself. These are still possibilities when sharing a room with Juno, but at least it’ll be less expensive and Juno can wake up in time to see him go.

When they’ve bid Rita goodnight and have stepped into the simple double room, Juno fully expects the silence to continue for the rest of the morning, maybe even into the next day. He kicks off his boots and tosses his trench coat onto the nearest twin sized bed. As it lands on the freshly made sheets, a small puff of dirt comes off and Juno tries to hold back a grimace.

They both get ready to sleep relatively quick, but before Juno can shut off the last light, Rex finally speaks again.

“Juno.” His voice is soft, but in the dead silence of the room Rex might as well be shouting. Juno’s hand stops and he glances at Rex in his periphery. Seeing this, Rex continues, “I’d like to apologize for my earlier behavior. It was uncalled for, especially given our current circumstances. In a trip such as this, we need a certain level of trust between us, and we’ve both been making that rather difficult to obtain.”

Juno’s hand slowly lowers from the light switch and returns to his lap, hooking around a hair elastic still around his wrist. When a bit more time than is acceptable has passed, he finally says, “Uh, yeah. I mean, me too. Sorry I was being an ass, just been a long day I guess. With the murder party and everything.”

Rex chuckles. “I certainly don’t blame you. Hm, why don’t we try to rectify this. I will tell you something and you tell me something in return. I would still love to know Juno Steel.”

“What, like one of those ice breaker things?” Juno asks, brows raised. “I haven’t been a scout in twenty five years, Rex.”

Rex shrugs. “It was merely a suggestion. I completely understand if you’d rather sleep.”

It feels like too easy an out, a cut corner, declining a challenge. So, instead of taking it, Juno shakes his head. “Nah, let’s do it,” Juno says, leaning against the headboard. “Tell me something.”

Rex raises an eyebrow. “Alright then, what would you like to know?”

“Uhh,” Juno says. He hadn’t really thought this far ahead. So he asks, “How’d you become— er, y’now, a vampire?”

“Going straight into it then, I see,” Rex says, bemused. “Would you like the logistical version or the backstory?”

Juno shrugs, looking away. The smile on Rex’s lips is oddly relaxed, open and pleasant. He doesn’t want to get too used to that. “Either, I guess. I’m not actually that knowledgeable on vampire stuff unless you count those weird docu-streams Rita watches.”

“Most definitely not,” Rex says. “Those are a bit… dramatized.”

“You mean you don’t whisk maidens away to large castles and wear gothic frock coats every day?” Juno asks sarcastically, propping his chin in his hand. “Appalling.”

Rex grins. “Well, there are actually two ways for a vampire to be made,” he explains, hands gesturing. “The beginning is the same of course, being bitten and going Cold, but then there comes the blood. Most know only of the first, drinking human blood. Depending on the person it takes different amounts, and it doesn’t matter how much your first taste is, you don’t gain any more or less abilities.”

Juno nods. It matches up with everything he’s heard from Rita and the HCPD and the vampire safety pamphlets they always throw around on the streets.

“And then there is the lesser known method,” Rex says. “Vampire blood. It was originally the only method for turning, we are far more enduring and powerful than those turned with human blood. There were far fewer of us in those days, but once people realized that human blood suffices, the population grew out of control.”

“And that’s why Coldtowns happened,” Juno says quietly. He tries not to pay too much attention to how Rex said _we_ , the implications that he’s one of those older, powerful vampires.

Rex nods. “And that’s why Coldtowns happened,” he confirms. “My turning was rather unique. My father, well, the man who raised me, was a vampire. He found me when I was a young boy and taught me thieving. He taught me to imitate the manners of vampires until I could easily imitate one, but I wasn’t actually turned until my early thirties, long after my greatest adventures. You could say I… worked with the Angel of Brahma, we were both part of the revolution, I was one of those privileged enough to be within the inner circle.

“I fled after everything that happened and tried to escape it. And for a while, I had. But then my father found me again when I found myself in a bit of a hairy situation. He offered to help me pay my debts and escape if I’d turn.” Rex’s expression sours as he mutters, “Heavens know why he cared so much about me turning. Some twisted version of sentimentality. Never mind that though, I took the offer and he turned me.”

“What’s he do now then?” Juno asks, brows furrowing. His brain runs through a thousand scenarios, trying to piece together the motives of Rex’s father. The entire situation sounds incredibly suspicious— in other words, it has a bright neon sign reading _Solve Me, Juno Steel!_ across the top.

Rex shrugs, looking away. “I wouldn’t know. The moment I woke again, I left. If we do not cross paths again though, it would be too soon.” He lets out a small, humorless laugh. “Well. I suppose that was a bit more than necessary, my apologies Juno.”

“Er no, it’s totally fine,” Juno says awkwardly. “I’m… sorry, I guess. How are you supposed to react to something like that?”

The laugh that escapes Rex is one of surprise and genuine amusement. It’s somehow more real than anything, a small glimpse of whoever is behind the mask of Rex Glass and Juno tries not to savor it. Their eyes meet and Rex looks away quickly and clears his throat. “Well, I suppose you can unload your own tragic backstory, if you’d like. Or, if you’d rather, something simpler such as ice cream flavors.”

“No, it’s only fair I guess,” Juno says. He thinks for a moment, hesitates, then says quietly, “I had a brother. We were twins.”

Juno stops and grits his teeth. _It’s an exchange_ , he reminds himself. He knows that he could easily switch to some other, lighter anecdote, but from the moment Rex began talking he knew that this was the story that he’d be telling. It’s been so long since another person has heard the story from Juno instead of some shitty Old Town newspaper article. He’s almost afraid he’s forgotten it with the time gone by, like the way he’s forgotten the slightly different pitch of Benten’s laughter or the exact pattern of Sasha’s irises when she’s not wearing those ridiculous Dark Matters sun glasses.

“Ben was a dance teacher,” he begins. “He’d always been into dance but when we got out of high school he got a job at the studio down the street and he fell in love with those kids, said the tiny feral ones always reminded him of us when we were younger.

“I don’t know how much you know about Mars, but Old Town Hyperion is kind of shit. It’s a rough place to live. He was coming back from a lesson one night and there was a vampire hanging around. They bit him and ran off so luckily he was alright but by the time he got home the Cold was beginning to settle in.” Juno’s hands are shaking hard. He tries to ball them in his lap, begging them to stop. _It’s almost over_ , he tells himself. “I’d moved into the academy dorms so I didn’t know that he’d gone Cold but our mom noticed almost immediately, I think. She was really paranoid over vampire stuff. When I came home the next morning she’d just shot him dead with a silver bullet. Probably didn’t even fucking talk to Ben before she did it either. When the cops came, they didn’t charge her.”

“Juno,” Rex says quietly, sympathy drenching each syllables. He shifts in place but remains seated, a sad look in his eyes.

It’s not like the pity that Juno’s seen in so many others when they heard what happened to Ben— pity that even Juno’s best friends couldn’t hide when it happened. Instead there is only understanding. It makes him feel better than it has any right to.

Rex stands now, crosses the two feet of space easily and takes Juno’s shaking hands into his. He squeezes them gently. “I am very sorry for what happened, and though I cannot do anything to make it better, thank you for entrusting me with this.”

Juno gives him a small grin. “It’s only fair I guess. Shitty backstory for shitty backstory, Glass.”

“Nureyev,” he says quickly, the words slipping out like smooth oil. Juno’s brows furrow and he clarifies, “Peter Nureyev. That is my true name.”

Juno blinks at him for a long moment. He’d know that Rex Glass wasn’t this vampire’s real name, obviously, but it still catches him off guard that he knows it now. “Oh,” he says finally. “Cool. Uh, thank you— Nureyev.”

The small, fanged smile that Peter flashes him nearly murders Juno on the spot. He lightly picks up one of their joined hands and presses a light kiss atop Juno’s knuckles. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHOUT OUT TO MY PSEUDO GRANDMA DEB!! shes absolutely feral old lady who runs the hot air ballooning crew my parents used to be part of and we still fly with sometimes and i love her a lot so i dedicate this plot device character and diner to her <3 miss u deb, i will shout out of your truck window for idiots to get off the damn balloon envelope again someday.
> 
> anyway hope u like this chapter, next one hopefully coming next week! (idk if on saturday though i havent started it yet djbfklg) until then, you can catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy halloween guys!! this one's fun

Rita’s feeling even more talkative when they get back on the road around three in the afternoon, which Juno finds to be both a blessing and a curse. As they go further into the desert, the radio begins to cut out until they’re too far out from any domes for a signals to reach. When it becomes more static than music, Juno slams it off and lets Rita’s running commentary and humming fill the car instead.

Neither him nor Peter contribute very much to many of these conversations— especially the ones more focused on whatever niche stream she’s been watching or incredibly complex tech that is incomprehensible to Juno “How the Fuck Do Comms Work” Steel— but Rita doesn’t mind. Overall, the energy is calm and Juno actually finds himself enjoying it.

At one point Rita pauses mid thought and says, “Say Mistah Glass, do you still have some of those peanuts?”

Peter startles, blinking as he turns away from the now-tinted window. “Hm? Oh yes, you can take the rest,” he says, pulling the bag out of the cup holder to hold out for Rita.

“Are you sure?” Rita asks, grabbing the bag. “I mean, I don’t wanna take away your snacks. I’d never want someone to take some of _my_ snacks, it’d be so mean!”

“I insist,” Peter says, a smile in his voice. “I’m afraid there’s not much a point of me keeping them with me anyway. Despite my earlier request, I’m actually quite allergic to peanuts.”

Juno nearly slams on the breaks as his neck whips to the side. “Are you serious right now?” he nearly shrieks. “Then why’d you make me get you a big bag of them?”

Peter’s fangs poke out again when he smiles, mischievous like a faerie. “Oh, I simply wanted to inconvenience you, detective. My sincerest apologies.”

The groan that escapes Juno’s lips is filled with downright murderous irritation. He wants to punch Peter in his stupidly smug, well sculpted vampire face. Instead, he tries to take a deep breath and refocuses on the road. “Fine. Whatever. This is fine. But next time, buy your own goddamn nuts.”

“With pleasure,” Peter replies breezily.

Rita quickly forgets the conversation and happily crunches on the peanuts and they return to relative silence. Juno’s irritation wanes a bit but he continues to pointedly not look at Peter. And if he’s going thirty miles over the limit now instead of twenty, who’s out here to call him out on it other than the broken security bot fifteen miles back?

After a few minutes he pauses and asks, “Hey wait a minute, if you’re allergic to peanuts, why’d you even eat any?”

Peter chuckles quietly. “I’ve been wondering the same thing for the past several hours, Juno. There’s a rather irritating rash on my arm at the moment.”

Juno scoffs incredulously but can’t help the small smile forming on his lips. “You’re absolutely crazy, you know that?”

The full smile he receives sends his heart racing just a bit too much.

* * *

“Juno, what do you know about the Angel of Brahma and his work?”

Juno spares a look to his right, head tilting slightly. Peter is staring straight ahead, his hands idly fiddling with the edges of his blanket. There’s a nervousness about him despite the calm of his demeanor and Juno can’t help but get a bit worried as a result.

“Nothing really besides what you and Deb said,” he shrugs. “Why? You got something else to tell me about this mysterious guy that will most definitely put me and Rita into the trajectory of unavoidable peril again?”

“Not exactly,” Peter says. “Just that vampire politics are… complicated. When someone doesn’t agree with something, they hold a rather large grudge more often than not. Their plots extend past the person they blame and start placing anger on those who were even slightly associated as well.”

Juno snorts. “Sounds like any idiot with an ounce of power from Hyperion City,” he mutters.

“They’re not too different, it seems,” Peter says. “Anyway, many of the older vampires get a bit… hasty when it comes to anyone they knew to be associated with the Angel. Whether it’s because they believed strongly in the system or in the revolution, the Angel was scorned by the end and no matter the stance of his compatriots, they get some of the scorn as well.”

“So what you’re saying is if any of them in Cerberus recognize you they’ll beat you up,” Juno says.

Peter’s smile is small but amused. “That’s putting it lightly, but essentially yes. I am putting myself into the hands of some of the most powerful vampires that this galaxy has ever seen by entering Coldtown.”

“Oh,” Juno says quietly. A wave of guilt overcomes him as he studies Peter in quick glances when he can take his eyes away from the road. He knows that this is the only way and that any vampire with a bit of common sense would do the same to him, but Juno still finds himself say, “We uh, we don’t have to go to Coldtown I guess. Like, turning you in and everything. I’ve got a few favors from the Kanagawas I can probably pull to get Rita out of there instead if it means things will be that bad for you in Coldtown.”

This isn’t the response Peter was expecting, Juno suspects, because his eyes go wide for a moment before he collects himself and says smoothly, “And what about you? How would you be getting out?”

Juno shrugs vaguely. “Oh uh, you know,” he mutters and hopes Peter will drop the subject.

Sadly, he’s not so lucky.

“Juno,” Peter says softly. “I will be fine, really. There’s some business I must attend to within the walls anyway and I would not want to endanger your safety to ensure my own.”

“Let’s change the subject, please,” Juno says pointedly. “It’s fine, okay?”

Peter hesitates a moment but sighs. “If you insist. But know that I _do_ care about you, Juno. Despite it being in my best interest and your ridiculous stubborn streak.”

Juno snorts. “Yep, that’s me alright. Ma always said it was one of my worst personality traits.”

Peter’s head tilts ever so slightly. “You know, that’s not such a bad trait, I think. Of course, it has its downsides at times, but it has its uses. In all honesty, I’d even say it’s attractive.”

For a moment, Juno forgets to breathe. Nureyev might be the undead one and yet his heart is the one stalling, the one that’s nearly bursting before slamming back into motion less than a second later. All he can manage to utter is a strained, “Oh. I see.”

The grin returns and Juno is stupidly aware of Peter’s stupid sharp teeth yet again. What is it about those damn teeth? He tries to push it away but fails as Peter says lowly, “Tell me, Juno, do you know how sharp the fangs of a vampire are?”

Suddenly, five years of academy training flee Juno’s brain. He shrugs a bit. “Uh, based off the last time I actually talked to one, pretty damn sharp is my guess.”

“Care to test that theory, detective?” Peter asks.

“What do you— oh,” Juno cuts himself off. He feels his face going warm as he steals a glance over at Peter, leaning ever so slightly over the center console with a gleam of mischief in his red eyes. Without even realizing it, Juno feels the car slow down until it comes to a stop in the middle of the road. He mechanically puts it into park and shifts into his seat.

A moment later, soft, thin fingers have found their way into his hair and Peter’s soft lips are on his, fangs pressing ever so slightly into his bottom lip. Juno distantly feels the buckle of his seatbelt dig into his side painfully but can hardly focus on anything as he kisses the vampire in his passenger’s seat.

Later on he’ll probably laugh at himself for this, making out with a guy in his car across the center, stopped in the middle of the road and with Rita conked out in the back. For now, he only pays attention to the way Peter kisses him so delicately but so enthusiastically— like it’s something to savor, to worship and remember.

Eventually though, Juno remembers that they are in fact stopped in the middle of a road and Rita is unconscious less than two feet away and he pulls back, memorizing the taste on his tongue the best he can. “Hey Nureyev,” he rasps out.

“Yes, Juno?”

“Give me back the key to my safe.” Juno tries to hold back a grin at the slight surprise on Peter’s face and readjusts in his seat so he’s facing the road again.

Surprisingly, Peter lets out a small laugh. Sure enough, he pulls the small keyring out of one of his many hidden pockets and tucks it back into the inner pocket of Juno’s trench coat. “Juno Steel,” he announces quietly, “you are more dangerous than daybreak.”

When Peter smirks again, it is mirrored by one of Juno’s own.

(In the back of his mind though, he makes a note to ask Rita to look into something. He’s got a hunch brewing.)

* * *

It takes nearly another day of driving for them to reach the Cerberus dome. In that time, nothing of too much interest happens beyond a few more rest stop breaks and five hours in a motel. Juno’s not quite sure where he stands with Nureyev beyond the fact that the flirtation has been boosted back up to a ten and when they were at the motel there were about ten minutes not spent catching up on sleep.

He tries not to think too hard about it. Instead he reminds himself that the most important thing is getting into Cerberus before Rita gets too bad. She’s been fading in and out even more than before and Juno’s anxiety is rising with it. Every few seconds he’s found himself glancing into the rearview mirror just to make sure she’s still there and alive.

Juno knows that Rita and Peter know what he’s doing, but thankfully neither comment on it. Rita’s given him a few more random, unexplained hugs, but that’s about it. He’s tried to relax a bit more since their last stop where he nearly went into hysterics as Nureyev tried to purchase yet another bag of peanuts, but whatever calm he might’ve been starting to get immediately dissipates as soon as they reach the outter part of Cerberus.

Though technically Cerberus is a Coldtown, not all of it is actually inside. The walls were built around the inner-most part of the city. The gates are heavily guarded and there’s a wide birth given around them, with two offices for check ins at the west and eastern points. Right outside the walls though, starting fifty yards away from the offices, it’s like most other human-dominated places on Mars, if not a bit rougher.

People mill around and crowd outside of the walls, many of them looking up with hungry and unwelcoming eyes as Juno drives by. He knows what they’re doing here. The hollow look in their eyes, the desperation and exhaustion is something he’s seen in the mirror ever since Ben died. They’re waiting.

Someone went into Coldtown and they weren’t stupid enough to follow so now they can only wait out here, squatting in the dirt until they come back. If they come back at all. The only way to even catch a glimpse of their loved ones is on the single monitor hanging over the eastern office which is split into multiple streams from the top vampire streamers on the inside.

Juno wonders, distantly, whether being out here is even worse than succumbing to the dangerous vampire parties inside.

A small rock hits the side of his car with a resounding crack. Peter makes a sound of uncertainty but Juno doesn’t even flinch. He continues down the street and towards the signs leading towards Coldtown with steely determination.

“Mistah Steel…” Rita says quietly.

“Yeah, I know,” Juno replies. His grip on the steering wheel is too firm and he tries not to look at anyone too hard. He knows what Rita is thinking. He’s thinking it, too.

If Ben had lived long enough for Juno to try to take him to Coldtown, this would’ve been his life. Not a detective preparing to slip his best friend in and out of Cerberus but another grieving, angry urchin sitting outside the concrete walls and throwing stones. Perhaps that will be his fate now, if this plan won’t work.

Prying one sweaty hand off the steering wheel, Juno blindly flicks open the center compartment, hand reaching around until it grips around cold metal. He tosses the handcuffs Peter’s way. “Put them back on,” he says. Before Peter can make a joke Juno adds, “Yeah, you don’t need to say it. Just act like a damn prisoner.”

“You’re no fun, Juno,” Peter pouts. Still, he obliges and snaps the handcuffs around his wrists with ease. “I hope it’s worth the Chuck-E-Cheese coin.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Juno says. He slows as they approach the office building, stopping behind the car stopped at the automated kiosk.

The office itself isn’t that much to look at. An underwhelming rectangle of rough concrete with a single, small window on the side. It’s more akin to an old fashioned DMV than a building belonging to the Mars Coldtown Council.

Juno reminds himself to stay in the present and inches the car up to the kiosk. He fills out each question only half paying attention at first— name, citizenship, identification. When the screen requests reason for visitation Juno pauses only a moment before selecting the boxes for _entry_ and _bounty_. He does his best not to glance Peter’s way as he does so.

The screen turns white once Juno hits submit. _Please wait for assistance_ , it tells him in bold letters. He’d be tempted to laugh at the ridiculousness, the self-check out nature, if not for the stern faced woman who steps out of the office a moment later and comes striding towards them.

She frowns down at a tablet then back up at Juno. “Steel?” she asks. Juno nods. “Alright then, come this way. Do you require assistance in relocating it?”

“What, the vampire?” Juno asks. The woman sighs impatiently, which he takes as a yes. He rolls his eyes. “I’ll be fine, thanks.”

She shrugs and meanders back to the office. Juno exchanges a look with Rita in the mirror. Her expression is sour as she mimes the woman and Juno snorts quietly. He parks in the small parking lot and turns to Peter. “You ready to go?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Peter says, eerily calm. “Though one small note, I will need to be registered under the alias of Duke Rose here.”

“Of course you will,” Juno mutters. He steps out and around the car to help Peter out and open Rita’s door. “C’mon, we’ve got to go in.”

Rita lets out a groan. “Do I have to, boss? I’m feeling real tired right about now and I just want to take a nap, can’t a gal take a nap?”

“You can nap once we’re in, come on,” Juno says, trying to keep the sharpness from his voice. “We’ve got like ten minutes left then you can just take another nap.”

“Hmmmmm, fine, if you say so I guess,” Rita says after a moment of consideration. “But if you’re lying I’m gonna be _real_ disappointed.”

“I know you will,” Juno nods. “Now let’s go.”

After a few too many seconds of useless bargaining with Rita, they make it into the office. The woman is looking even more annoyed as she now stands behind the plexiglass shielded counter and slides the three packets of paperwork over to Juno.

“We can take it here and you just take the money,” she says, nodding to a man standing in the corner. He looks all too glad to grab Peter by the shoulders and start to pull him towards the elevator doors behind the counter. “Save your time going in, though. I don’t know what flavor of death wish you two have but there are better ways.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” Juno says quickly. “We’re not here for cash, we’ll be taking an exit token.”

The scoff the woman lets out is incredulous. “There’s two of you, it won’t get you out. I tell you, lady, there’s nothing good in there. Whatever you’re looking for, it’s a load of horseshit.”

“Nice story, but I think I’ll manage,” Juno says breezily. He pulls a pen from his pocket and begins on the first form. He does the bounty form and his own entry form quickly, but it takes a few moments to get Rita to meander over to fill out her own.

As Juno waits, he eyes the endless bounty posters plastered all over the one not plain wall like a bad wallpaper. None are particularly interesting but then he sees one in particular, with more zeroes than the rest and an all too familiar title.

Seeing the blurred copy-of-a-copy photo above, so identifiable with that near-mad fanged smirk, confirms what Juno had suspected before. What Rita had chased to the very end of the thread that ended with a boy named Peter Ransom, but they hadn’t been able to fully confirm in the past few days. Peter Nureyev _is_ the Angel of Brahma.

Quickly, Juno tears the poster from the wall and crumples it into one of his trench coat pockets. His eye meets Peter’s across the room and the smile he receives tells Juno that Peter knows that he knows. Juno turns back to Rita, who’s finally done with her paperwork and drowsily talking about a stream to the woman that is now trying to take a picture for the Cerberus records.

“You’re next,” she tells Juno. “Please, Miss Rita, just remain still and facing forward for a moment.”

As if she didn’t hear her Rita continues on, “But then he provokes the sports mafia people _again_ and they come and kidnap him! Can you believe that?” When she turns to face the woman, eyes widening in surprise, the camera snaps a photo.

A sigh of relief escapes her lips. “Alright, that’s very interesting Rita. It is now Mr. Steel’s turn, if you’d step aside.”

Much to her relief, Juno stays still during his picture. He’s just standing there, face neutral instead of animatedly continuing on about the protagonist’s mobster dad and pseudo aunt suddenly coming back into the picture with big knives, which makes it take significantly less time.

“You’re set to go,” she tells Juno. “This is your last chance to make the right decision.”

Juno glances at Rita, whose words are becoming drowsier by the second even as she tries now to tell Peter and his guards about the new update she programmed into her comms yesterday. “I am,” he says firmly.

The woman shakes her head, sighing. “Your death wish.”

Indeed it is.

Juno and Rita step around to the elevator where Nureyev and his ensemble wait. When the doors slide open, the three of them are pushed into the glass cube without a word and the doors immediately shut behind them.

As it begins to move downwards, Juno makes the mistake of turning around. He flinches hard at the revelation that the floor is transparent too and they have a nice, terrifying aerial view of Cerberus. Several hundred feet up Juno can see the faded shingles of house rooves and bright light of mansions at the edges. The open squares in the city center and the sparse number of people lurking there with the creeping sun. The matching glass elevator directly across from them, merely a speck of gold and mirror in the distance.

And then he promptly closes his eyes. “Goddammit,” Juno grumbles, pointedly trying not to look anywhere.

Peter raises an eyebrow but Rita reaches up and pats his back. “Ohhh that’s right. I’m sorry I forgot about this part boss, I know how much you’re scared of heights.”

“Heights?” Peter asks, amusement tinging his voice. “Why, aren’t you a delicate little thing.”

“Oh shut up, _Rose_ ,” Juno mumbles.

It takes an excruciating three more minutes for them to finally reach the bottom. When the glass doors slide open, Juno is the first one out. He might be in a Coldtown, but ground is ground for at least a few seconds.

But then it hits him, they are now in Coldtown. Until some Council-assigned official swings by and gives him the exit token within one to three business days— however fucking long that is— they are now trapped in here. Juno takes a shaky breath.

“Okay, so uh, I guess we find somewhere to take a nap,” he says, looking around. No one’s even looked up at their arrival. Voluntary entry is something that happens far more often than it should.

“Well, I wish you all the best on that, Juno,” Peter says airily. He’s already begun to walk away. “It’s truly been lovely to meet and travel with you both. Maybe our paths will cross again in the future.”

Juno blinks. “Hey now, wait a minute. Where are you even going?”

Peter’s eyes are sharp, almost cold for the first time in a while as he regards Juno. “As I told you, there are some things I need to take care of. They cannot wait forever so I must be off immediately. Until we meet again, Juno Steel. Watch out for vampires.”

And with that, Juno and Rita are left alone at the edge of Coldtown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, 11k in: but what if its too soon for them to kiss :((
> 
> ANYWAY fun chapter hope you liked it!! the more dangerous than daybreak line is straight from the book i'm not that poetic. as a treat for halloween, i cosplayed peter as he is in this fic in all his vampire glory, which you can find on my twitter [here](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns/status/1322742832487018497). surprise, i'm a cosplayer.
> 
> thanks as always for reading, next chapter coming at you next saturday and until then catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com). and if you like my cosplay, those are on my [instagram](https://instagram.com/adverbial.starlight/) and [tiktok](https://www.tiktok.com/@adverbialnouns?lang=en)!
> 
> edit: OH I FORGOT THE STREAM RITA TELLS THE LADY ABOUT IS THE ACTUAL PLOT OF ALL FOR THE GAME LMAO


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops sorry this is a day late my computer broke mid week and so did my serotonin lacking brain but here is the chapter, finally the aurinko tag comes in. enjoy!

Juno and Rita are out wandering in the daylight, looking for a place they might be able to stay for at least a few hours when suddenly they turn a corner and end up cornered in a shadowed alleyway. Within seconds there are three different vampires on them, teeth bared and eyes glowing.

“Well, we seem to be in luck today boys,” one of them sneers. They grip Juno’s elbow tighter as he tries to struggle and laughs, twisting to see his wrist. “No markers, it’s free real estate.”

“Fuck,” Juno wheezes out.

Another vampire grabs Rita as her eyes widen and she tries to stop them, and she can barely move as they hold her.

“Do ya think the Council would be mad if we just left some drained bodies here?” he asks, sniffing Rita’s hair like a goddamn creep. His nose wrinkles as he catches a whiff of what is no doubt Rita’s salmon snacks. Serves him right.

“Now boys, you know the big boss wouldn’t like that,” the last vampire says, crossing his arms. “I couldn’t care less but you know how he is, in that damn mansion of his.”

“Shhh,” the one holding Juno says dramatically, spit flying from their mouth. Juno gags. “What if he hears you?”

The one holding Rita rolls his eyes. “Don’t be a dumbass, he’s got spies yeah, but not actual eyes followin’ all of us. Let’s just do it already, I’m hungry.”

“And _I’m_ not looking forward to dying. He’s scary.”

“Then what’re we supposed to do?” grumbles the one behind Juno.

Juno tells himself to be quiet. He tells himself not to do anything stupid. Instead, he opens his mouth. “I’d be down for a nice barbeque, honestly. Maybe some wine, if you’re feeling fancy enough. Very nice of you to invite us to lunch though.”

The grip on his throat tightens and Juno winces. Yeah, should’ve seen that coming. “You think you’re so funny, eh sport?” they say.

Despite the way his head begins to spin, Juno chokes out, “Yeah, my brother always thought so.”

The vampire holding Rita grunts. “Why don’t we just kill them and hide the bodies. This one’s annoying.”

The other two look at each other. Or at least, that’s what Juno can assume since the last vampire is looking right above Juno’s head.

The vampire behind Juno says, “Alright fellas, it’s feast time,” and Juno’s feeling a bit less like a funny sport as the vampires grin to reveal blood-stained fangs.

Whatever lure there’d been with Peter is nonexistent in these vampires. He’s not sure if it’s their distinct lack of hygiene, but what Juno had seen dangerous but compelling in Nureyev’s smile is just cold and blood thirsty— and kind of disgusting— in these. There’s an ugly feeling of anger and abandonment churning in Juno’s chest that creeps up as he thinks about Peter, how he just stranded them and now they’re going to _die_ , but he pushes it away to deal with later. If he and Rita even survive this.

But then something unexpected happens.

One minute Juno’s being yanked around to face the vampire ready to tear his throat out, and the next he’s been dropped and staggering away from the writhing vampire with a silver blade wedged into their back. Behind them stands a human man in a brown jacket, who nods stoically.

For a moment Juno thinks it’s a greeting. But then he realizes that the man is looking pointedly at Juno’s side, where his holster is sliding down onto his hip and he realizes what’s being conveyed here. He skids to a halt and pulls out his gun, still loaded with two silver bullets as preparation for when he went to Vicky’s party. With the suddenness of the vampires, he’d nearly forgotten it was there.

Juno spins around and immediately fires at the vampire holding Rita. Though he’s confident in his shot, he watches for a long moment to make sure that the bullet doesn’t accidentally graze Rita. Thankfully, it flies right over her short head and lodges into the shoulder of the vampire holding her. He lets out a cry of pain and drops her immediately.

Rita stumbles out of his hold and kicks him in the shins for good measure. “Now that ain’t very nice of you at all, you should really know better not to go sniffin’ a lady’s hair like that and lookin’ like a big creep. You’re lucky Mistah Steel is nice and didn’t hurt you further, but I am very disappointed in you.”

The vampire looks dazed as she scolds him, either from blood loss or her speech. Either way, he wasn’t expecting it.

Juno glances at the man in the jacket again and he’s carefully rolling the body of the last vampire into the sunlit street. The first one that had been stabbed is already gone. He watches the vampire disintegrate into ash in silence, lungs taking in large breaths in the aftermath of the sudden fight. Looking down at the vampire he’d shot, who’s moaning on the ground, Juno moves to kick him into the sun too but then the mysterious man steps back over, towering over the vampire.

The vampire whimpers as he looks up, but the man’s face remains neutral. Then, he speaks. “You and your compatriots were discussing your plans earlier, I could not help but notice. Tell me who your employer is and I will allow you to die very quickly.”

“What— the boss?” the vampire asks. “Please, I don’t know anything, I was just trying to have some fun. He lives in that big spooky mansion and likes to play king but I dunno, okay? Never even told me what his name is, he’s just the big scary boss man who knows shit.”

The man in the jacket’s eyes narrow. “So you are one of his minions, I presume.”

“I— I guess so? Please don’t kill me.”

“What do you do for this big scary boss man of yours?” the man asks, ignoring the vampire’s request.

Juno would laugh if he weren’t so focused on the conversation himself. He glances out on the street again, spotting the cathedral-like mansion that peeks over all the other buildings, brilliant amongst the shoddiness of Cerberus. It might’ve only been a few hours since he’s been here, but it doesn’t take a detective to know which mansion the vampire is talking about. He didn’t know there was some sort of royalty in Coldtown though, Rita’s streams always make it seem just like a lawless frat house.

The vampire begins to shrug but then winces in pain. “I just run some errands sometimes for the people there. I swear man, I’m not important please let me go.”

The man shrugs. “Well, it seems this is the end of our conversation then. Goodbye.” With that, he bends down to grab the vampire by his shoulders and with alarming force, hauls the wailing vampire into the sun.

As he burns, Juno watches the man instead. His expression remains neutral but pleasant and a chill runs through Juno. He is human, that much is clear, but clearly dangerous still.

From next to him, Rita groans. “Well that was no fun. Boss, I think I’m gonna hit the hay.”

Juno turns back to her quickly, catching Rita as she begins to slouch forward. “Rita, we’re in the middle of an alleyway, c’mon. I’ll try to find somewhere for us to stay, please don’t fall asleep now. Dammit.”

“But _boss_ , I’m _tired_ ,” Rita whines.

Juno’s about to reply when the man in the brown jacket walks back over to them. “My apologies,” he tells them, nodding. “I am sorry that your initial impression of Cerberus had to be one such as that. It is a very good thing that I was able to assist.”

“Psh, there’s vampires all over this place, big guy, we were fine,” Juno says. “We can stand our ground, right Rita?”

The noise that Rita makes in response is muffled and unclear as she slouches further into Juno’s side. She gives a weak thumbs up.

“I see,” the man says skeptically. “Would you like some assistance anyway, Juno?”

“I think— hey wait, how’d you know my name?”

“Would we ever,” Rita says suddenly, head coming up. “Mistah Steel here is still bein’ mopey because his kinda-boyfriend just left us here and now he’s all sad. He ain’t gonna find anything useful in this state.”

Juno turns to Rita. “ _Hey_ ,” he says, frowning. “That’s not—”

“Don’t think I don’t know how Mistah Glass was lookin’ at you,” Rita sing-songs. She then grins tiredly at the man in the jacket. “Hi. My name’s Rita!”

The man nods. “Jet Sikuliaq, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he says. “We have heard much about you, actually, and I think that Buddy may have a job offer you’ll appreciate.”

“Uhh,” Juno says. This was not part of the plan. His plan was to let Rita quarantine in Coldtown until she’s better, but this entire goddamn trip has gone sideways in every way possible. Juno is suddenly very tired though and glances at Rita. “Will there be lodging? Rita’s Cold.”

Jet nods. “All terms may be discussed when we arrive, including some proper accommodations for Miss Rita. If you would please, she is waiting for you.”

Though it seems like an absolutely terrible idea, having no other ideas, Juno follows, half pulling Rita along with him.

They make their way down the open streets of Cerberus. Unlike many places on Mars, there’s no concrete, only musty dirt roads and slightly less rocky footpaths. There are people strewn about everywhere though, just as there is in Oldtown Hyperion. Gaunt faces with smeared makeup and eyes glazed over and wrists tattooed with blood red ink with swirling cursive of vampires’ names greet Juno as he follows Jet further into the city.

It’s the daytime so things are relatively quiet though, with far less vampires, but Juno still watches on warily. Jet turns a corner. And then another. He leads them into another alleyway eventually, this one dark as the one where Juno and Rita attacked. Juno’s cautious but Jet seems entirely at ease as he walks up to the very last door and knocks.

The handle is made of brass, carved with elaborate swirling designs. A wooden sign drops from the covering directly above them, reading _The Lighthouse_ in an elegant script. It’s far fancier than any of the other places in this section of Cerberus that Juno’s seen, something that would fit better in one of the vampire districts that they carefully avoided. And yet it’s in a dark corner, far away from the brightly lit streets, a place of grandeur tucked away.

They wait a few moments before the door swings open. A gruff looking woman with green hair greets them, her face stern and scarred. She nearly smiles as she sees Jet, but it evaporates when she sees Juno and Rita. “Jet. Are these the recruits?”

Jet nods. “Hello, Vespa. We ran into a few delays but everything went rather smoothly. The third was… unavailable but I’ve managed to collect Juno and Rita.”

Vespa grunts. “Alright, get in here. She’s been waiting for hours.”

“We had some delays,” Jet says easily. He steps through the door and gestures for Juno and Rita to follow.

The inside of the Lighthouse is dimly lit, with the same splintered wood on the floors and the walls as there are outside. Along the far side of the room is a wall of assorted bottles and glasses. Opposite it is a small stage, currently empty but with a warm yellow light fixed on the center. Tables are scattered through the rest of the musty bar, all unoccupied. In fact, beyond the four of them, the only person inside is a lone figure standing by the bar.

They are leaned elegantly against one of the stools with a wine glass in hand, and when Juno gets closer, cherry red lips smile back at him. The woman in front of him is akin to a starlet, her curly red hair falling effortlessly over one eye and her bare shoulders. Her gown is long and dark, sharp edges and flowing fabric with a few stray sequins that shine like starlight. At her throat sits a large emerald choker, the edges sharp and pristine.

She is, undoubtedly beautiful, but that is not what catches Juno’s attention. Rather, it’s the way her one eye uncovered glows a dark blood red. When her smile widens so she can take a sip of her wine, the faintest bit of fangs poke out.

Juno halts in his tracks, holding Rita’s wrist when she moves to continue forward. She begins to protest but something in Juno’s face makes them fade away. She looks at the woman again, blinking as her eyes adjust to the lighting.

Jet and Vespa have none of the hesitation Juno does. Vespa strides right up to the vampire, pressing a light and sweet kiss to her cheek before sitting down next to her. The soft glance she’d greeted the woman with is gone, and she’s back to glaring critically at Juno and Rita. Jet silently comes to stand on her other side.

“Welcome, darlings,” the vampire says to Juno and Vespa. “I’m glad to see that you’ve arrived alright, how was your trip in?”

“What the hell,” Juno says in response, entirely taken aback.

She laughs heartily and takes another sip of wine. “Ah, of course, my mistake. My name is Buddy Aurinko, master thief and owner of the Lighthouse. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Juno and Rita. I’ve heard much about you.”

From beside Juno, Rita makes a small screeching noise. “Oh my god, like _the_ Buddy Aurinko? They based so many streams off of you, _woah_! And you know who Mistah Steel is.” She gasps. “You know who _I_ am.”

Buddy’s grin widens. “The one and only,” she says with a small bow. “We’ve been watching you two for a bit of time, and though it might not have been our _first_ choice, we’d love to have you on the team.”

“To do what exactly?” Juno asks skeptically. He continues to eye Buddy, Vespa, and Jet warily, trying to deduce what their game is. There’s no way that they’ve been watching them for a long time from in here, and especially if they didn’t know that Juno and Rita were coming to Cerberus. It’d been a spur of the moment decision and no matter what celebrity status Buddy seems to have, she’s no fortune teller.

“Don’t give me that look, Juno dear,” Buddy says breezily. “We do not wish either of you harm, think of this more as a recruitment. This invitation was going to happen eventually, but you are simply ahead of schedule. How much do you know about Cerberus Coldtown?”

Juno blinks. “Uh, there’s like, parties and shit here, right? Murder and some sort of weird unofficial king.”

“Ah good, so you know a bit then,” Buddy nods. “As you might’ve guessed, there are many vampires here, that’s what Coldtowns are for. And as creatures tend to do when left to their own devices like this, many fought to get to the top of the newly made hierarchy, and one won. He thinks himself a bit of a king, that bastard, though he’s too much a coward to ever let himself be known. Otherwise, I’d like to think the Council would have taken care of him already, he’s not very fond of their policies. He calls himself the Harbinger. Lord knows why.”

“The guy who lives in the big ass mansion,” Juno guesses.

“Correct,” Buddy says. “He’s gotten away with quite a bit hiding himself away in there. Despite being a recluse, the Harbinger has managed to accrue nearly all the wealth within Cerberus. Most establishments are in some part connected to him and his empire. It leaves nearly everyone else in a very risky position, except for those streamers who are under his sponsorship. As a result, many humans have sold themselves into servitude to one of his sentinels, become their free buffets as a type of servitude. I’m sure you saw some on your way in, they’ve got quite elaborate tattoos for it.”

Rita gasps. “That’s absolutely horrible, Madame Buddy! People are so _mean_ sometimes.”

“Indeed they are, Rita,” Buddy sighs. “And that is why we plan to stop them. We are the Aurinko crime family. For years we have been working to undermine the Harbinger and topple his empire. We’ve come very close and are now in the final stages, one final heist to end it all. And that is where you two come in.”

Juno snorts. “We’re not thieves. I’m a detective, I’m technically supposed to be upholding the law right now, not robbing the boogeyman.”

“But that is in Hyperion,” Jet speaks up. “We are not in Hyperion City at the moment, and thus, those laws do not apply here. Only those set into place by the Council are effective, and even then we do not have the policing system to uphold it.”

Buddy’s eye twinkles as she says, “Thank you, Jet. You two may not be thieves, but you have invaluable skills to bring to the table. Juno, your observation skills and sharpshooting come in quite handy, and more importantly there is Rita’s hacking. I have seen your track record and must admit it’s quite impressive. The Harbinger’s mansion is very tight in security, and we will need your skills in order to get into the party that he will be hosting in three days’ time.”

Rita’s eyes light up. “Ooooh, that sounds super fun! It’ll be like in _Bames Jond: Super Duper Sneaker Part Eighty Four Thousand_ where the super duper sneaker spy hacks into the gigantic fuzzy robot!” She begins to rock on her heels but then begins to sway a bit. Juno grabs her shoulder, trying to steady her as he pushes down a large wave of panic.

“Alright yeah, super cool, always love to get right down to business, but can we maybe, like, pause for a minute?” he says. “Rita got bitten a few days ago. She needs somewhere to rest and recover.”

“Not a problem, we can provide you both lodging here,” Buddy says. “Though I am afraid that we do not have enough time to wait out the four week duration for the Cold to leave. Thankfully, we have an assortment of resources. If you’re willing, Rita, we could turn you today and you will be good to go again.”

Juno’s blood goes cold. Suddenly he can’t breathe, all he can do is stare at Rita. She’s talking excitedly again at Buddy, about pointy teeth and vampire streams and gothic frock coats, but it feels far away. She’s agreeing, he thinks. Everything is muffled and as Juno watches her in a daze.

He can only see Benzaiten.

His twin’s cold body, still and already decaying on the basement floor. His mother’s gun and hateful, paranoid eyes, snarling at him. His childhood friend whispering about how her mother turned and how she became a _monster_.

Juno can’t picture it happening to Rita, but there’s a small voice that whispers _what if it does_? Vampirism is unpredictable, despite how wide spread they are there isn’t much research on them that hasn’t been destroyed. All he knows is that silver hurts, they’re immortal, Peter Nureyev is an absolute fucking asshole, people can be turned either with vampire or human blood once they go Cold, and apparently can be incredibly good capitalists.

“Mistah Steel?”

Rita’s voice breaks Juno out of his downward spiral and he blinks, looking over at her. She and Buddy and her crew are looking at him in confusion and Juno winces. “Er, sorry. What was that?”

“I must get an answer now,” Buddy says. “Though I wish I could give you the time to contemplate your decision, time truly is of essence here.”

“Uhh,” Juno begins. He glances to Rita, who shrugs.

“I think we should go for it, boss,” she beams. “I mean, destroying vampire capitalism? That’s so cool! And Madame Buddy’s offering us somewhere to stay upstairs and give me cool fangs, which is really a good thing. Both, but I mean the room because phew I’m _wiped_. You know, you and Mistah Glass were kinda exhausting to be around there. All those _heart eyes_. I’m not sayin’ it wasn’t cute, it definitely was— don’t deny it boss, I can see you blushing right now— but there’s only so long you can go around third wheeling like that, ya know?”

“Uhh,” Juno says again.

“Glass?” Buddy asks, amused.

Rita giggles. “They were in looooove.”

“Rita,” Juno grumbles.

She points at him, swaying a bit again. “Don’t you get that grumpy tone with me, Mistah Steel. There ain’t nothing there you can deny.”

Juno buries his face in his hands but still peeks out. Rita’s teasing him, and as much as Juno’s not a fan of being the but of the joke— especially one that brings up Nureyev _again_ — this energy reminds him what’s at stake. He’s not an idiot. Rita’s best chance at survival is if they’re with the Aurinkos and even if that means she’ll become a vampire… well, Juno will have that crisis when it comes.

“Alright fine,” he says, lowering his hands and making eye contact with Buddy. “If Rita’s in, I’m in too.”

Buddy grins at them, leaning back as she raises her glass. “In that case, welcome to the family.”

“Congratulations,” Jet says flatly. “I am ecstatic to have you two on board.”

“Uhh, you sure there, big guy?” Juno asks, brows furrowing.

“Yes, I am completely certain. Why do you ask?” Jet says.

Juno opens his mouth but then closes it again. “You know, nevermind. So where’s Rita staying? It’s been a long morning and she probably needs a nap.”

“Mistah Steel—” Rita cuts herself off with a loud yawn. “I’m no little kid, you know. You’re not my mother, I can go to sleep whenever I wanna!”

“But you do, don’t you?” Juno asks, raising an eyebrow.

Rita pouts. “I mean _yeah_ but don’t be such a downer over it, yeesh.”

Juno turns to Buddy. “So, uh, upstairs you said?”

Buddy, who’s been watching their exchange with amusement, nods. She stands up, her gown cascading around her on the ground and she starts towards the curtained off area at the end of the bar. “Right this way, ladies. Vespa, Jet, there are preparations to be made for the party. While I get these two situated, you may begin without me.”

“Sure thing, Bud,” Vespa says. She glances warily at Juno and Rita once more then follows Jet back outside.

“Uhh, I’m kinda getting the feeling she doesn’t like me that much,” Juno tells Buddy as they begin to ascend the stairs.

“Who, Vespa?” Buddy asks. “Oh, don’t worry about her. She’s simply a bit wary when it comes to new people. Soon enough she’ll warm up to you. We are a family, after all.”

Juno’s step falters. “Family,” he mutters, Benten and Rita flashing in his mind once more. “Yeah, sure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as an american im so done w politics atm but as a writer i will include All of the politics for vampires. also more juno being sad. and teef.
> 
> the next chapter might also be kinda late but since im using this for nanowrimo hopefully it'll be faster. also since some of these scenes are getting away from me in length, this will now be 8 chapters instead of 7. probably.
> 
> thanks as always for continuing to read, i'm having so much fun writing this au and hope you like reading it!! until next time gang, you can you can catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo this is late again but its also a big boy chapter so pls take that as an apology 😔

“Rita.”

Rita hums as she looks up from her comms. “Yeah, Mistah Steel?”

She and Juno are sitting in Rita’s designated room and the sun’s began to set outside. She woke up about five minutes ago and immediately called him over.

Juno didn’t ask, but he doesn’t have to in order to know why. Rita’s going to take Buddy’s offer and she wants to hang out with Juno before it happens. He didn’t argue too much about it because his panic’s been slowly creeping even closer the past few hours

Though Juno doesn’t want to think that Rita will become a cruel monster after turning, he’s not sure what will happen and wants to remember Rita as she was _human_. And as good as he is at repressing nearly every issue that he has by either ignoring it outright or laughing at it, this isn’t something he can do that with. It’s Rita.

“What do you think about… all of this?” he asks her.

Rita tilts her head a bit. “About what? The whole Coldtown business?”

“Becoming, you know, a vampire,” Juno says.

“Oh,” Rita says. “In all honesty, this is _not_ how I expected this week to go. I was kinda looking forward to watching the new _Werewolves in Space_ episode but this is alright too. Who knew that vampire prison would have such good signal?”

Juno sighs. “Rita.”

“Right, my bad. I think I’m excited. Being a vampire could be neat, don’t ya think boss?” Rita replies. When Juno doesn’t immediately reply, she looks up at him. “Boss? You alright, you don’t look too good.”

Juno tries to wipe away the stricken expression on his face but it’s too late. He looks down at the handsewn quilt draped at the foot of the bed and doesn’t lift his eyes when he speaks. “Just… Aren’t you worried at all? What if something goes wrong or something happens to you?”

“Aww, Mistah Steel, are you worried about me?” Rita asks. After a moment, she scoots over to grab Juno lightly on the shoulders. “I know you’ve heard some scary stuff about vampires, but think about Madame Buddy. And Mistah Glass! You really liked Mistah Glass, and I know you don’t want me to bring him up again, you’re makin’ that face again, but my point is that you _did_! Vampires can’t be all that bad if there’s people like them around that you can respect and smooch. I’m still gonna be me no matter what!”

Juno watches her for a few seconds. Despite her tired, slightly sunken in eyes, they’re as bright as the midnoon sun outside the curtained windows. Eventually he lets a small, unsure smile slip onto his lips. She’s right, nothing could get rid of Rita no matter how hard it tried. As for Nureyev, well, there’s a point there too but Juno decides to keep it to himself. Besides, now isn’t the time to curse his name again. Instead he pulls Rita in for a tight hug, muttering into her frizzy buns, “Yeah, it’ll be okay.”

It’s self reassurance, but as Rita hugs him back, Juno can almost begin to believe it.

They remain in the comfortable embrace for another half hour before there’s a light knock on the door. Rita reluctantly detaches herself from Juno and greets Buddy, who stands in the doorway in more casual clothing and a tall bottle of something that looks like but probably is not wine.

Juno watches, unsettled, as Rita’s head immediately snaps up and focuses on the bottle. It confirms his suspicions. _Definitely_ not wine.

“Hello darlings,” Buddy greets them. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything. I understand that the next few days will be quite busy and you’d like to spend as much time together before everything truly kicks off.”

“Not at all, Madame Buddy!” Rita says. “Come on in!”

“Lovely, then we can begin,” Buddy says. She steps inside and Vespa follows after, a medical kit in hand. Handing the bottle to Rita, Buddy begins to explain.

“The initial process is rather simple, dear. You drink this blood,” she nods at the bottle. “Afterwards you’ll feel pretty tired and might want to take a nap. And then you get a fever, a result of ultimately going through a second speed run of puberty. It’s quite painful but Vespa has some sedatives to make it as painless as possible. When waking up some people are a bit volatile so we will be escorting Juno out of the room when we begin but if you wish to see him afterwards you may. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Uhh, I have one,” Juno speaks up, trying to push his anxiety down. _She’s going to be fine_ , he scolds himself, so intent it’s like a mantra. “Where’d you just get a random bottle of blood from?”

Buddy flashes her fangs at him. “I’m a vampire in a Coldtown, dear. I have my ways. Rita?”

Rita hums but then shakes her head. She holds the bottle up to the light and swirls it around, watching the blood move around the semi-opaque bottle with an almost dazed expression.

A wave of nausea hits Juno seeing it and he stands. “Well uh, see you afterwards then,” he says, staring down at the floor.

Rita, to his surprise, looks away from the bottle and grins. It’s toothy but without fangs, perhaps for the very last time. “I’ll be okay,” she mouths at him, making a shooing motion.

Juno heaves a shaky side and nods. Then he returns to his own room, the door shutting behind him as he exits Rita’s room.

He spends the next few hours trying to distract himself. At first he tries with small things, exploring the corners of his room and folding an origami flower out of a dirty sticky note he found on the floor. But infinitesimal thoughts have never served as an efficient distraction for Juno. The only way to get rid of a large looming thought is to replace it with another one.

That’s how he ends up thinking about Nureyev again. He wonders what business he could possibly have here, whether he’s thought about Juno and Rita at all. He wonders if Peter is sorry at all with the way he left like that, if he knew just how much he made Juno feel.

 _Of course not_ , a small voice whispers. _Why would he even want to_?

Juno chucks the paper flower at the opposite wall. It hits with a weak bounce but Juno just growls and leans back on the bed, ignoring it.

After staring at nothing for approximately three seconds, Juno sits up again and walks out of his room and downstairs. There’s an entire bar there, he reasons, might as well make use of it.

When Juno turns the corner, the entire bar is empty. Jet is off somewhere else and Vespa and Buddy are upstairs with Rita, which leaves Juno entirely alone. He strides up to the bar, grabbing the first bottle of whiskey he can find and pours some into a glass.

He relishes the way the alcohol burns as he takes a long gulp. It’s foul on his tongue and in his throat, and though Juno will admit it is disgusting, it grounds him a bit. He sips the drink more moderately and props his chin in his free hand, heaving a tired sigh.

Maybe he’ll take a nap after this, but he wants to be awake when Rita wakes up. And besides, he’s too anxious to actually rest.

Instead of putting his energy towards something more productive and healthy, Juno pours himself some more whiskey when the first glass is drained. Before he does, Juno peeks up the stairs, listening for any sign of Buddy coming to bust him for drinking her inventory of expensive whiskey. There’s been no sound from Rita’s room since Juno came downstairs. He’s not sure if he’s relieved or worried.

As Juno’s contemplating pouring himself a third glass, the main door of the Lighthouse creaks open. He spins around quickly, hand going to his blaster on instinct. After a second of contemplation, he angles himself to cover the open bottle of whiskey too.

Jet strides inside with a large plastic grocery bag hanging off his arm and nods to Juno as he makes his way to the stairs. When Juno looks, he can see three large bags of salmon chips peeking out.

“That’s a lot of snacks you got there,” Juno says, raising an eyebrow.

“They are not for me,” Jet says. “Buddy requested that I go get some comfort foods for Rita for when she is recovering. Rita told her that she is unable to focus on her work without them so I have acquired multiple bags.”

Juno blinks. “Oh,” he says. For a moment he’s mad that he didn’t think of it first, that he’s not been a better friend through all this, and then shoves it away violently.

He doesn’t hide it quickly enough though because Jet pauses and turns to him. “I have upset you,” Jet says plainly.

“Eh, no, don’t worry about it big guy, it was just something I was thinking about,” Juno dismisses. He turns to hunch over his drink again, taking a big sip. “She’ll really appreciate those, thanks.”

“Juno,” Jet says. “If you would like to discuss anything, I am more than willing to lend an ear. I’ve been told I am a rather good listener.”

Juno nods, confused. “Alright then. Uh, I guess I’m just kinda worried about Rita. With the whole she’s about to become a vampire thing.”

“That is understandable, it is a very stressful situation that you’ve been in, from what I’ve been told,” Jet says. “You have my sympathy.”

If Juno’s being honest, he wouldn’t even be able to tell that Jet _has_ any sympathy. His face remains neutral and voice flat but polite. The words don’t quite match up to his demeanor but Juno’s not sure how else to react so he just nods. “Right, yeah. Thanks.”

“Perhaps some rest will do you some good as well. Buddy does not mind if you have a drink once and a while but we are not a hotel service. Some of these bottles are worth an incredibly high number of creds,” Jet says, nodding. “And I’m sure you know this already, but vampires cannot be generalized. It is the person they are at their core that determines how monstrous they become. Have a good evening, Juno.”

“You too, I guess,” Juno says to Jet’s back, slightly confused still. He drains the rest of his glass and replaces the whiskey where he found it, only feeling mildly guilty. And then he drags himself upstairs again.

Juno strains his ears as he passes Rita’s room but as predicted, there’s nothing. He sheds his jacket on the ground when he steps back into his room and falls face first onto the bed. It’s dramatic, he knows, but there’s no one around to poke fun about it. Juno sighs loudly into the quilt.

He’s still buzzing with nerves and worries for Rita, but a wave of exhaustion hits and Juno’s eyes begin to grow heavier and the buzzing of the air conditioning becomes fainter in his ears. For a brief moment Juno tries to fight it, but then he reasons that Rita will probably be sleeping a while too, she won’t mind. And so Juno lets himself drift off into sleep.

* * *

When Juno wakes up, the sky outside is completely dark. He stands up, cracking his back, and steps outside again. Instead of the expected silence though, there is the faint sound of talking behind Rita’s now ajar door.

Juno comes up to it and knocks hesitantly. It’s got to be a sign, right? If something went terribly wrong and his best friend is now a soulless, blood thirsty monster who wants to kill him on sight, the door wouldn’t be open. Probably.

He knocks lightly. The door swings open a bit from the pressure and Juno can just see Rita, sitting up in the bed and talking to someone. She’s still tired as she’s been the past few days, but there’s a vibrance that’s been missing as she talks with her hands.

Relief pours through Juno so quickly he could collapse. Instead he waves awkwardly when Rita sees him in the door and grins at him, wide and newly pointy. Her eyes are still dark but have taken on a reddish tint. Otherwise, she seems the exact same. There’s even one of the bags of salmon snacks open on the nightstand next to her, the pink dust coating her fingers as she waves.

“Mistah Steel!” Rita exclaims.

“Hello Juno dear, things went quite well here,” Buddy says. Vespa stands next to her silently, watching Juno carefully. “Rita must rest for a day or two but then she should be in good shape.”

Juno nods, stepping into the room. “Yeah, that’s great. How do you feel?”

“Honestly? I’m great,” Rita says. “It’s like I drank a whole lotta energy drink and grew some pointy teeth, it’s so cool! Madame Buddy is gonna teach me how to do all the vampire stuff like not slicing my tongue off now and hide from the sun and hang in a bat cave! I’m still the same ol’ Rita, but I’m gonna hide in a bat cave now!”

Buddy chuckles. “I would not go so far as dwelling in a bat cave but with the rest I would be more than happy to help you adjust. I know that this decision had to be quite sudden but I’m glad that it’s gone smoothly. Sadly not everyone is able to have such a smooth turning.”

“Thank you guys for making sure that Rita was able to,” Juno says a bit stiffly. “We barely know each other and I know there’s a thing on keeping your employees alive, but thanks.”

“In all honesty, it was all Vespa,” Buddy beams. She takes Vespa’s hand into her, sending her a fond glance as Vespa’s face begins to turn red.

“ _Bud_ ,” Vespa groans. “It really wasn’t that much, goddamn.”

Buddy only smiles more. “But it was to me. And for Rita and Juno here.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Vespa mutters. “Well, I’m a medic. It’s what I do.”

“And what we do,” Buddy says, smoothly translating, “is thieving. Since we are all here, I can go over the plan now.”

As she finishes speaking, Jet comes up from behind Juno and comes to stand next to him. Juno jumps. “Gah, what the fuck, where’d you even come from?”

“The laundry room,” Jet says. “Please Buddy, continue.”

Buddy looks amused as Juno mutters to himself then says, “We will be infiltrating one of the Harbinger’s parties, as you all know. Though it is quite exclusive, I’m of high status in these parts and have acquired an invitation.”

She reaches into one of the deep pockets of her skirt and retrieves a gold foiled card. There’s elegant script on the front of it with a lace pattern lining the edges. It’s extensive, and in all honesty exactly what Juno would expect from some vampire monopoly man.

“Rita and Vespa will be staying here as our IT team,” Buddy says, putting the card on Rita’s night stand. “I will need your help to get through many of the locks and identifications. As for Juno, you and I will be going in as guests. I will send the maps and information to your comms after this meeting, but our job here is to find a very important relic. Somewhere in his house, the Harbinger has the Emerald of Eirene. The Emerald is a keystone in Cerberus and really all vampires on Mars. It is a symbol of power, and whoever has it in their possession is on top.”

“And you think that taking the Emerald will destroy the Harbinger?” Juno asks. “But if it’s that big of a thing, why hasn’t someone just gone and stole it before?”

“There have been attempts,” Buddy says. “However, none have been successful. The path to the Emerald is a tedious one. You cannot simply waltz in and take it. There is extensive planning and resources required to take the Emerald, which the three of us have been working on for several years now. However, we are now in the final stages and it’s a matter of getting inside the Harbinger’s mansion.

“We will be doing so with my invitation. I will be bringing you as my plus one and we will have Jet waiting with the car outside in the case that anything should go terribly wrong.” She nods in Jet’s direction. “He is a very competent driver and we have a valuable escape tool in our possession.”

“The RUBY7 is the very best escape vehicle to exist,” Jet confirms. “She is quite a marvel.”

Buddy smiles. “Yes she is. Now Juno, when we go into the party, you must look like you fit there,” she says. “I’ll provide you something to wear from my own closet, but please steer clear of as many stream cameras as you can. We would not want anything like this to circulate in the streams. I have a general idea where the Emerald is, but we must find it for sure. My predictions will be in the folder I’m sending your way.” She folds her hands together and looks from Juno to Rita and back. “Do either of you have any questions or shall we begin preparation?”

“Uhh, how do you know it’ll all work?” Juno asks. “I know you’re, like, a big league around here, but if no one’s pulled it off, what makes us so special that we should be the ones to do it?”

The glint in Buddy’s red eye is mirthful. “Well, I suppose we shall see. Anything else?”

Juno glances at Rita but then shrugs. Rita shakes her head. “No ma’am.”

“Fantastic. Family meeting adjourned then. Juno, come to my room tomorrow night and I can find you some clothing for the party. Until then, please read the case brief and prepare yourselves. We’ve got some busy days ahead of us.”

With that, they all file out of Rita’s room. Juno stays behind though. Quietly he asks, “You’re sure you’re okay with all this?”

Rita looks confused for a moment but then her expression softens. “I know it’s a heck of a lot more than we’re used to here, but I think we could really do something here, ya know? Help everyone!”

“I guess,” Juno says. “Just as long as you’re doing alright. In everything happening I got so distracted with getting us to Coldtown and then managing Rex, I didn’t properly check up on you during it. And I should’ve, I know that now. I’m sorry.”

The smile on Rita’s lips is soft and familiar as she grabs Juno’s arm and pulls him in for a tight hug. “Aww Mistah Steel!” she says tearily into his shoulder. “It’s okay, you don’t need to worry about little old me. I was doin’ alright and you had everything else to focus on. You did great! We’re here now, I’m gonna live forever, and we’re gonna topple vampire capitalism!”

Juno laughs at that, hugging Rita back without hesitation. “Yeah, I guess we are, aren’t we?”

“And we’re gonna be okay,” Rita adds. “You hear me? You can mope a bit longer over Mistah Glass if you wanna, it’s still fresh and all that, but then we’re gonna watch a vampire stream and you’re gonna commit burglary to topple vampire capitalism!”

Juno nods. “Yeah,” he says quietly. “We’re gonna be okay.” And he can almost believe it.

* * *

The Harbinger’s mansion is just as disgustingly elaborate as Juno expected it to be. It towers over him, all carved stone and sparkling jeweled accents. The doors are at least twenty feet tall and made of a dark wood, no doubt with patterns carved into the front as well. Juno tries not to squirm in his deep purple gown, fearful that one of the many crystals dripping off of the bodice and knee length skirt might fall off.

He and Buddy stand in the entrance, other high status vampires and their consorts passing by and flash their invitations. Buddy mentioned that there would be a few of the more popular human streamers stopping by as well, having enough influence to be admitted, but so far Juno’s only seen red eyes and unnaturally graceful strides.

He wonders for a brief moment whether Peter is considered high enough in the vampire politics to be here. It would make no sense, it sounds like the Harbinger would be at the top of the Angel of Brahma’s enemy list, but Juno can’t help but hope just for a moment. He imagines seeing Peter across the room, a flute of champagne between those elegant fingers and an elaborate suit jacket draped over his shoulders. Juno’s not sure what he’d do in that scenario, but he decides not to worry about it because it won’t happen.

“It is quite something,” Buddy hums, looking up at the mansion as well. “There are nearly twenty floors as well, it’s an architectural miracle. But never mind that, shall we go in?”

Juno nods and links his arm with Buddy’s and they follow the small crowd. Buddy’s all elegance and suave confidence as she shows the guards her invitation, blood red lips turning up into a smirk as one guard reads the name and tenses.

“Damn, you weren’t kidding about high status,” Juno mutters to her as they walk past and into the main ballroom.

He can already here the muffled thudding of an EDM song blaring down the hall, the walls vibrating to the beat. It’s almost comedic compared to the lavish and old fashioned decoration of the main hallway which is designed almost like a cathedral. Wealth drips from every crack in the smooth marble flooring, and Juno can’t help the disgust as he remembers how the Harbinger acquired it all.

“Of course not darling,” Buddy says, beaming. “Back in the day, me and Vespa were quite accomplished in the crime scene. It’s been a bit of time since our last great heist, but my name still gets around sometimes.”

“It’s true,” Rita’s voice pipes up from the earpiece Juno’s wearing. He startles a bit but rights himself and continues walking. “They stole some of the really big stuff, there’s even a few streams based off Madame Buddy and Mistah Jet’s work! Oooh, we gotta watch those sometime!”

Buddy shakes her head a bit as they turn a corner. “I’m afraid there are some inaccuracies there, but I am sure that Vespa would fill you in on them. We are now approaching the main ballroom. Stand by.”

In the background, Juno can hear Vespa groan as Rita squeals. “Oooh. Rodger that Madame Buddy!”

There’s a click as Rita’s microphone shuts off and Juno turns to Buddy. She smiles back. “Are you ready?” she asks.

Juno takes a steadying breath, mentally running over all the maps one more time before he nods. “No time like the present. Let’s go find this thing.”

There’s a certain level of cognitive dissonance when Juno walks into the ballroom. It’s a complete mix of an old fashioned gala and a full on rave. Everyone’s dressed in their finest clothing, cocktail gowns and rompers and finely tailored suits, and on the outskirts there are some people standing by sipping on alcoholic drinks brought by waitstaff, but at the center it’s more akin to a nightclub. Vampires and humans jump and sway to the rhythm of an electronic song as mirror balls spin overhead.

Perhaps Juno might’ve been more prepared if he actually watched one of those stupid Coldtown streams that Rita claimed were _really good for researchin’, Mistah Steel_. Since he refused though, Juno stands in the doorway in a state akin to shock for a long moment.

Buddy has to gently guide him out of the way and towards one of the walls. She grabs a flute of champagne from one of the traveling trays and presses it into Juno’s hand. “I know that it’s quite a lot, darling, but remain focused on our objective here.”

Juno takes the drink on autopilot but the cold champagne snaps him out of whatever state he was in. He clears his throat. “Yeah, right. I can uh, try to move around and see if anyone’s willing to talk?”

“That would be excellent,” Buddy beams. “I will be doing the same. There’s a bit of time before we need to look elsewhere in the mansion and there are many old acquaintances of mine somewhere around here. They might be willing to let a bit of information loose with a small bribe or two.”

Juno swallows the rest of his champagne, setting the glass down on one of the brass tables lining the wall and surveys the room again, looking for a good place to glean any useful gossip.

Buddy’s slipped away already, not even a sign of her bright auburn hair and sparkling jumper in the crowd. She’s simply gone. Juno tries not to remember how Peter did the same thing, even if under different circumstances.

“Get your shit together,” Juno mutters to himself and starts off in a random direction. He pointedly doesn’t directly look at any vampires sipping on humans with tattooed wrists.

He stops near a small group of vampires chatting loudly. Juno awkwardly moves his hips and arms to the music, trying to fit into the sea of dancers as he listens.

The earpiece clicks on again and he hears Vespa scoff. “Nice dancing, Steel.”

Juno bites back a reply, knowing she won’t hear it anyway and tries to dance with a bit more enthusiasm.

“I dunno,” one of the vampires says. “It’s like, I gave that human a way of _survival_ , and then they just had the audacity to call me a monster for it. And I mean _yeah_ , I get more from it than them, but that’s how it works! But they’re _mad_. Can you believe it?”

“Wow,” her friend says. “That’s so rude. And ungrateful.”

Before Juno can hear any more— though he’s not sure he even wants to— someone grabs his shoulder roughly.

He begins to pull away, a snarl on his lips, but then, for the first time in fifteen years, he comes face to face with Sasha Wire. Her sunglasses are still on despite the dim lighting, but from the way her lips are pursed and her grip is like steel, Juno can assume that she’s glaring daggers at him. Sasha pulls him out of the center and towards an empty area against the wall.

“Juno,” she hisses. “What the _fuck_ are you doing here? I thought I told you not to come to Coldtown.”

“Wow, nice to see you too,” Juno says, crossing his arms. “Listen, as much as I love this talking more than once every three years thing we’ve had going this week, I’m actually here for something. So if you’ll excuse me—”

Sasha blocks his exit and turns him around again with a sigh. “Juno, what are you doing?”

“I told you,” Juno says petulantly, “I’m here for something.”

For a moment, panic flickers over Sasha’s face. She grabs his arm, twisting it to see the inside of his wrist. It’s bare, as Juno knew it’d be. She deflates. But then she tenses again. “Juno, you’re not going to—”  
“What? Of course not,” Juno says, offended. “I’d never. I don’t have a death wish.”

“And yet you’ve come here,” Sasha counters. “Look, there’s a big Dark Matters investigation going on with this party going on and you _cannot_ get tangled into it. Wait, how’d you even get in anyway? The guest list is secured tightly and we had to pull multiple strings for me to get in.”

Juno shrugs. “None of your business. But you’re not the only one doing important stuff around here so just, I don’t know, go to the opposite side of the room and pretend I’m not even here, alright?”

Sasha glares at him behind her Dark Matters sunglasses again. “You know I can’t do that. Contrary to popular belief, Dark Matters cares about the safety of citizens.”

“ _Sasha_ ,” Juno says. “Please, just this once, trust me. I know what I’m doing but I can’t fuck around and squabble. So you do your thing and I’ll do mine. I’ll be safe, just let me do it.”

She looks ready to shoot him down again, jaw clenching and unclenching. But then she sighs. “Just don’t get yourself killed please. This is still a vampire party.”

“I could say the same thing to you,” Juno says. “Nice seeing ya.”

Sasha gives him one last look but then, as Juno suggested, slips away across the room. He’s scanning the crowd, trying to gauge what group he might have better luck with, when everything comes to a screeching halt. The music fades to the background and his blood goes cold, he’s frozen in place.

Juno blinks once. And then again. But there’s no denying that Peter Nureyev is staring back at him, just as surprised as Juno if not more and not even ten feet away.

He’s talking to a man in a long, iridescent dress and for the most part remains neutral looking, but his eyes are trained on Juno. If Juno hadn’t spent so much time in a car next to Peter, he wouldn’t even be able to tell something’s off, but the small wrinkle under his left eye is more pronounced.

Peter says something to the man, smiling politely at him, but then makes a bee line for Juno. He strides up in only a few steps and then is towering over Juno in a navy suit laced with golden threads. Juno can’t help but stare. He knew it before, very well, but hell if Peter doesn’t look _really_ good right now.

“I—” Juno begins.

But then Peter takes his wrist lightly and guides him out the nearest door. It’s not the main hallway that Juno came through but an empty, quieter one with no windows or people. Once they’re out of the doorway and a few feet away from it, Peter whirls around.

“Juno, what are you doing here?” he hisses quietly, leaning in close and red eyes flashing.

“Huh,” Juno says, a bit choked as his heart tries to escape. “You know, Nureyev, you’re the second person to ask me that tonight. But I think a better question is what are _you_ doing here? I know you said you had stuff to take care of but I thought that was just an excuse to ditch me not to go to the biggest fucking block party in town.”

Peter’s intense expression shutters a bit. “Juno,” he begins to say, voice soft.

Juno waits expectantly, but instead of words, what comes next is a dagger. Before he can even blink, Peter’s pulled the blade from seemingly nowhere and has pressed it hard against Juno’s throat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise, rita's ok. honestly, you probably shouldnt have expected anything but that lmao i love her too much. anyway wow lots happened here and peters back ready to kill juno!! in the book the parties are full on raves but i thought hey wouldnt it be funny if they all get down to daft punk in formal wear like its vampire prom? probably is only funny to me.
> 
> anyway, thank you for reading, hopefully i can get my shit together and post the last 2 chapters on time. we're nearing the end yall. until then, you can catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao so this is Very Late sorry anyway enjoy

Peter stares at him intently as the dagger presses into Juno’s skin. Juno isn’t sure what it means but can’t think to piece it together as he tries to breathe shallowly enough that he doesn’t press against the blade enough to draw blood. Every muscle in his body has stiffened and there’s a deep, ugly ball of hurt running wild in his chest.

He tries to say something but Peter only presses his dagger even closer. “Do not move,” he snarls lowly. “You know, I never was much of a fan of humans. You’re so fragile. Easy to manipulate, to hurt. To think that I might care for one is such a foolish assumption, detective.”

Juno stares at him with wide eyes, no longer squirming. He searches Peter’s face but it’s entirely closed off and cold as he holds the dagger steadily against Juno’s neck. “You know,” he says quietly, “you’re a fucking coward if you’re only going to kill me now when you’ve had so many goddamn opportunities before.”

“See, but I did not care what happened to you then,” Peter says easily. “Do not get me wrong, I still could not care less, but you’ve become… _inconvenient_. You’ve surely had a gnat trapped in your house before, have you not? For a few moments, you let it nag and buzz and continue to be a nuisance, even if an infinitesimal one, but eventually comes a time where you simply must crush it. That time is now.”

The aching hurt churns and it twists, growing larger and uglier until it just becomes anger. Juno’s brow furrows deeply and he glares with all the animosity he can muster when it comes to Peter Nureyev— which is to say, not even that much after everything. “Fuck you,” he whispers hoarsely.

Peter only replies, in an equally low tone instead of the loud and pompous voice he’s been speaking in this entire time, “Though it might bend, trust does not break when you put it in those you care for the most.”

Before Juno can even figure out what that’s supposed to mean, a pair of footsteps he hadn’t noticed stop only a foot away. With the dagger at his neck, Juno can’t turn to see, but Peter does. The smile he gives whoever is there is dripping with a smug confidence, fangs peeking out in an almost threatening way as he greets them.

“Hello,” he says smoothly. “Should you not be in the ballroom right now, actually doing your jobs? As you can see, I was in the middle of something quite important here and I’d rather not be _interrupted_.”

“Er, apologies, sir, but your father has requested your presence in his receiving room,” someone says, voice tinted in worry. “It’s urgent.”

Something strange flickers in Peter’s eyes but his smile doesn’t waver. Juno isn’t even sure if whoever Peter’s talking to caught it. “Whatever for? Surely he knows that I’ve decided to join in tonight’s celebrations. Whatever he’s hoping for, it can wait a few hours more.”

Juno watches Peter carefully, eyes narrowed. He might be kind of pissed off right now, but that won’t stop him from trying to solve whatever the hell is happening right now. As much as he wants to outright demand an answer though, Juno isn’t stupid enough to open his mouth and ask.

If anything, he’ll have better luck by just listening. So far, even only a few seconds in, he’s finding new information. For one, Juno definitely didn’t expect Nureyev’s father to still be in the picture. Whoever Peter’s father is though, he must be important if he lives in the Harbinger’s mansion. According to Buddy, only the Harbinger’s closest sentinels and friends are permitted to stay in the mansion overnight, let alone live here. And not only that, but he’s a vampire too.

“I’m afraid it can’t,” the person says, unapologetic. “He wishes to see you immediately.”

Peter sighs dramatically, but the knife at Juno’s throat moves ever so slightly away. It’s enough for Juno to turn and see one of the mansion’s guards in the middle of the hallway, arms crossed and looking incredibly uncomfortable. Juno and Peter’s eyes meet briefly, and the soft, apologetic look is back.

At once his anger wanes and strengthens. Of fucking course. Leave it to Peter Nureyev to pull a knife on a lady as a ruse without actually telling him first. Well, at least Juno isn’t getting murdered yet. He’ll have a few more minutes to suffer. Peter Nureyev sure knows how to treat a lady well.

Peter’s gaze returns to the guard, disdain dripping from his voice as he says, “Of course he does. Lead the way then.”

The guard’s brow furrows. “Young master, you live here, do you not?”

“And I have been away, practically exiled for the past several years,” Peter bites back. “Did I not?”

“Right, of course,” the guard says. “my sincerest apologies, I didn’t mean to imply…”

Peter sighs. “Just take me to him.”

He neatly pulls the dagger away from Juno’s throat, disappearing into the cuff of his sleeve in a flash. Juno’s tempted to ask whether Peter took lessons for trick magic with the deftness he puts away the blade, but with the guard here he decides against it.

To both Juno and the guard’s surprise, instead of dismissing Juno back into the ballroom with a shove, Peter lightly takes his wrist and pulls Juno along after him. The guard raises an eyebrow at Peter, which is returned with a self righteous glower.

“This one is fine, he will come with me. He’s nothing to worry over either, he’s practically dazed out of his mind right now from the blood loss, you know how it is with these humans,” Peter says. His voice is dismissive, his cool gaze running over Juno quickly even as his soft fingers trace a small circle on Juno’s pulse point. “I highly doubt this night will remain in his memory once tonight is over.

The guard looks unsure, glancing first at Juno and then back to Peter, but ultimately doesn’t argue. “Alright, sir. This way, then.” They spin on their heel and guide Peter and Juno down the dark hallway.

As they pass the two doorways back into the ballroom, Juno peers out at the rest of the oblivious guests, trying to spot Buddy or even Sasha. He wonders if they know where he went, or if he’ll be lying in a warm ditch or, more ideally, a warm bed, before they think to look for him somewhere other than the ballroom. But then Peter’s fingers interlock with him for a brief moment, encouraging him to keep walking, and Juno loses his train of thought.

The further into the mansion they go, the fewer lights there are. Eventually, Juno is squinting uselessly into pitch darkness, hoping not to run into anything as they’re led deeper and deeper. Peter has put an arm around Juno’s waist after the guard turned around, helping him around stray pieces of furniture or over an uneven floor tile. It’s incredibly considerate, and Juno tries very hard to remember that he’s still pissed off. This is basic decency, he doesn’t owe Nureyev shit for it.

The music coming from the ballroom also fades pretty quickly once they’re away from the doors. The only sounds are that of their footsteps and Juno’s quiet breathing. In his ear there’s a faint static humming from the comms extension that Rita gave him. When they turn a corner, the buzzing stops entirely.

Juno internally curses as it goes out. The rest of the crew is going to kill him for this, he didn’t even warn them he was leaving— though to be fair, he hadn’t expected to be taking a tour of the Harbinger’s mansion when he saw Peter across the room. Juno hadn’t been thinking. When Peter Nureyev is involved, it seems, he never fucking is.

But with Peter and the guard around, there’s no way to tell any of them what’s happening. He hopes that they at the very least have enough trust in him to not automatically assume he decided to fuck off and ditch the mission. Sure, that’s _technically_ what’s happening, but it’s not on purpose and whoever Peter’s father is, he’s got to be close to wherever they keep the Emerald.

He must’ve tensed because in the dark Peter pulls Juno infinitesimally closer. Automatically, Juno leans into the touch, letting out a quiet exhale as he breathes in the faint smell of Peter’s cologne. He didn’t realize how attached he’d become Peter’s smell, having been surrounded by it every day on the road, but now that Juno’s left and returned to being near Peter Nureyev, he never wants to leave it again. The faint jasmine and mint smell is a comfort, like the sharp bite of whiskey draining from the bottom of the glass.

 _Focus_ , the one small logical part of his brain reminds him. Juno straightens and squints into the darkness. There are only the faintest of silhouettes that he can make out. A branching off corridor to the left, a large painting on the wall to the right.

Peter’s touch guides him around one more corner and then abruptly, is gone. There’s a bit more light here and he can at least see the outlines of things. Peter has moved to walk a foot away, hands clasped behind his back and facing straight ahead at the guard. As they walk, more ornate lights sparsely line the walls and Juno’s sight returns.

In his peripheral, Juno sees Peter mouth the word _close_ to him, watching his loosely set shoulders tense. Juno feels his own body stiffen, and he hopes to anything and everything out there that he’s not about to get murdered.

At the end of the hallway is a set of large, ornate double doors. There are dark swirling patterns carved into the wood and the marble stone around it, and in front is a simple, almost laughable, handwritten note that reads _knock before entering_.

The guard puts out an arm, signaling for Juno and Peter to stop before they go up and knock on the door, stepping back after they do so. They wait a few moments before the doors slowly swing towards them, revealing four more guards and another closed door.

Juno doesn’t really see the point of the first door if there’s only another one, but he remains quiet.

The guards stand to attention, saluting the guard who came with Juno and Peter. One steps forward and they have a quiet conversation. After a few moments, she nods. “I will notify him and will come to fetch them once he is ready.”

Almost inaudibly, Peter whispers the same words he had before, so quiet that Juno can barely make it out. “Though it might bend, trust does not break when you put it in those you care for the most.”

And then, before Juno can even ask what he’s even been trying to say with that, the new guard is back. “The master will see you now,” she says flatly. Without waiting, she opens the door and strides in.

Juno glances once more at Peter then follows.

The room he enters is not what Juno would expect from some vampire aristocrat, no matter how well connected he might be. Instead, it’s built like a throne room. Down the center runs a long velvet carpet, stained crimson red without a single imperfection. There are no windows in the room but large, twenty foot tall portraits line the walls along with antique objects and twenty guards standing stony faced. At the end is what can only be called a throne, carved of dark wood and reaching up towards the highest points of the walls of Coldtown. On that throne sits a man with dark hair and a wicked grin. His eyes flash red and when he spots Peter, his teeth glean in the dim light of the diamond chandeliers, marking him as a vampire. This doesn’t surprise Juno, but what does surprise him is the large, forest green gem that rests on his right hand. Though he’s draped in jewelry, some far shinier and larger, the ring stands out to Juno. He can’t stop staring at it, like there’s some sort of enchantment that keeps him from tearing his eyes away, and after a few moments of just staring in awe, he realizes why.

Peter’s father wears the Emerald of Eirene, which makes him—

Juno’s head whips over to see Peter, stony faced and still walking towards the dais with a stiffness Juno’s never seen in him before. Belatedly he notices the matching emerald brooch sitting at Peter’s throat, the tall painting of him proudly framed on the wall when they first walked in.

“No,” Juno mutters to himself in horror. He’d only been half joking to himself when thinking he’d walk into certain death by going with Peter, but now it’s almost definite. The Harbinger smiles directly at Juno as if he’d heard, and looks utterly delighted when the stop a few feet away.

The guard escorting them bows low and returns to her place lining the center pathway. Peter remains standing and staring straight ahead at the Harbinger— his father. “ _Harbinger_ ,” he addresses him, voice wavering slightly.

“Peter,” the Harbinger returns. “I see you’ve made your way back to me then. I always knew you would eventually. Come and stand by your sire, won’t you?”

Peter’s jaw clenches. “I have not come back to play house with you,” he says plainly. “I’ve my own matters to attend to in Cerberus beyond coming to say hello. I didn’t think you’d complain too much given how _you_ have benefited.”

“Oh, but of course,” the Harbinger says in a casual tone. “For formalities sake at least come to stand at my side, boy. This is _our_ empire, after all. And believe you’ve brought me another visitor.”

“Hm?” Peter asks. “Oh no, this one is of no concern to you—”

“But he is, is he not?” the Harbinger asks. “My son, you have brought me one of the Aurinko family. I knew you were attending to business in the city, but I must say you’re even more helpful than I gave you credit for. Tell me, have you gone astray, little lady?”

Juno’s entire body freezes, his hand itching for a blaster, but all the guards in the room suddenly stand even taller. Twenty different weapons are pointed directly at Juno while the Harbinger looks all too pleased. “Did you truly think you could out thieve a thief? Rather foolish of Buddy, I’d say.”

Peter looks genuinely taken aback. “Mag,” he says quietly, “what’re you talking about?”

Juno wants to be comforted that Peter doesn’t seem to have known about this either. Still, he can’t help the sting of betrayal creeping back upon him, the voices whispering that it’s just a mind game and this was the goal all along. It was a trap, all of it, and stupid Juno Steel fell right into it. He swallows hard, forcing himself to stay still and figure a way out of here. It’s definitely not going to end well.

The Harbinger, Mag, ignores Peter. Instead he continues to grin wider at Juno. “Do not look so alarmed, I know everyone who comes in and out of my city,” he says. “Though I’m rather impressed you’ve managed so well, all things considered.”

Juno glares at him, then glares at Peter. “What,” he says lowly.

“Oh, I assure you attempts were made on your life still,” Mag says. “I had some people follow you around, make sure you weren’t causing _too_ much trouble, even if you’ve been running with Buddy Aurinko’s lot of trouble. But someone here just _had_ to keep you alive. I never understood it, but I think now he’s had a point. The Aurinko bunch cares for you. You’d be quite useful for me, the step above them that I needed. I’ve considered outright killing you but no, Pete is right, you’re much easier to hold over them alive. Of course, not for long though.”

“Fuck you,” Juno grits out. “They don’t give a shit about me. I know that none of you do so just fuck off.”

Mag laughs. “Really?” he asks. If that’s so, then why are they coming for you now?”

This makes Juno pause for a moment, but he shoves it aside. He knows that can’t be true. Sure maybe Rita worries about him, but why would any of the rest of them? Peter Nureyev has shown him that trust can’t be gained in such a short time. Juno focuses on that searing pain of betrayal as he grits out, “They’re not coming for me. They’re coming to kill you, you fucking bastard.”

“Are they?” Mag says, unconcerned. “I suppose we could let them try. Let’s make a bet for who they choose to go for first, hmm? I do love to win.”

“The hell are you even—”

“Ah,” Mag interrupts. “And here they come now. This will be quite a show.”

As if waiting for a cue, there’s shouting outside the inner throne room. Juno hears clashing metal and the sound of blaster fire, smelling the smoke even inside. He whips around just in time to see the door kicked open and he’s never been more glad to see Sasha Wire glaring at him.

Right behind her stands Vespa, arms crossed and knives in hand. “Answer your fucking comms next time, Steel,” she sneers. And then, all hell breaks loose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops i didnt mean to leave that last one on a cliffhanger for so long sorry!! my computer broke again and then bad brain + finals didnt mix well so i didnt actually write that much for a month but hey, we're really back.
> 
> this one's kind of short but don't worry because the last chapter will be up on saturday :D that's right, i actually finished it lol. hope you enjoy that when it comes, til then catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com) (or, visit my ao3 profile because i just posted a really stupid very amusing new tpp fic)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my computer fucking died again so half this I typed on my phone bc I wanted this out on time, sorry if there's any weird typos! also cw for uh some murder this chapter ft blood

“Mistah Steel!” Rita says, Juno’s earpiece crackling to life. “We lost ya there for a minute, whew. You really scared me there, ya know? But don’t worry, Miss Vespa, Miss Buddy, and Miss Wire are gonna get you out now.”

“A bit late for that warning, Rita,” Juno grumbles, knowing she won’t hear him over the sound of all the screaming and chaos.

Immediately he pulls out his blaster and begins to fire. The first guard loses their sword within seconds. Honestly, who even uses _swords_ anymore? It has to be some sort of formality thing since no one is stupid or smart enough to walk into the Harbinger’s throne room and start a fight. Juno elbows one of the guards coming to restrain him and starts to run towards Buddy, blaster firing as he goes.

“Well done, darling,” Buddy beams at him, firing at three of the guards. “You’ve found the Harbinger. And his son too, I am quite impressed.”

Something ugly turns in Juno’s stomach when she says that and he rolls his eyes, shooting a guard coming for Sasha, who hadn’t even bothered to say hello. “Yeah, uh, we’ll talk about that later. I don’t want to think about that dipshit right now.”

Buddy hums as they adjust to be back to back, firing in every direction at the guards who don’t seem to stop coming. “Trouble in paradise? Oh, don’t sound so surprised. I saw the way you looked at that young man, one would think you’ve met before.”

Juno shoots a guard in his chest plate, not bothering to watch him stagger backwards as the laser sears through the armor. “Do we really need to have this conversation right now?”

“Alright, I suppose I will ask you later,” Buddy says. “Though you might want to keep an eye on that one, we don’t know what he might do.”

“Be a complete dick, that’s what,” Juno says bitterly. Before Buddy can ask though, he’s firing again, moving to get closer to the dais again. Peter might’ve been an unexpected addition here, but Juno’s going to finish this job, dammit.

He’s so busy moving through the crowd, dodging laser fire, pointing and aiming, making sure that Vespa and Sasha are holding their own— which, of course they are, Juno shouldn’t be surprised in the slightest, probably more along the lines of terrified— and not dying, that he doesn’t notice Peter at first.

Mag is still sitting on his disgusting throne, not having bothered to stand up while his guards fight for him. Juno sees Peter still standing next to him, but something in his linen sleeve catches the light. The same knife that had been held at Juno’s pulse point is now back in his hand, casual and still.

Juno shoots over one of the new guards who just burst through the door, collapsing part of the beam over the door, and glances back at Peter, who is watching him with intent. He’s close enough to the dais now to hear Peter say, “Bend, but do not break,” and quick as a viper, turns and swipes at Mag.

It takes Juno so off guard that he nearly misses the next shot he takes, which earns him a glare from Sasha, who’s still shaking her head at him. He turns back to the fight but watches from the corner of his eye as Mag smirks, wide and ugly, as he catches Peter’s wrist.

“Pete, my boy,” he says patronizingly, “I’ve told you before that you can’t fool me anymore with tricks like that. You’re getting sof—”

Mag cuts off with a gurgle, his fingers falling away like slick oil and they go to his abdomen, where an ornate dagger has been buried. The ruby at its hilt winks in the light before fading into the smears of gushing blood.

“No,” Peter says calmly, “ _you’re_ getting soft if you’ve managed to delude yourself so much.” He pulls the dagger out without so much a flinch and brings it, still dripping blood, to Mag’s throat. There’s a small, bitter smile on his face when he says quietly, “See you in hell, father.”

Juno realizes that he shouldn’t have heard it. Peter had barely even whispered and Juno definitely doesn’t have super hearing. After a moment, he realizes it’s because the entire room has gone quiet, the fighting and the yelling abruptly cut off by this turn of events.

Juno’s first instinct is to turn around, but instead he steps closer to the dais, to Peter Nureyev and his blood stained, shaking hands that throw the ruby dagger to the ground next to the corpse of his father. He stops on the other side of Mag’s body, silently trying to catch Peter’s eye.

The anger has nearly evaporated and all Juno can feel is relief and confusion when Peter finally looks up. “Juno,” he mutters. “I’m so sorry, I never meant for you to have to get involved in any of this. I tried my best to keep you safe from my father’s dallying in Cerberus, but… I suppose that didn’t go well. But I wasn’t entirely sure how to go about things. You hadn’t been part of my calculations.”

Juno steps over Mag and grabs Peter’s hands, disregarding the blood as he gives them a firm squeeze. “You hadn’t been part of mine either,” he says, laughing a bit. “But I, uh, hope you might want to be in them in the future.”

“I—” Peter’s voice fades and he stares at Juno in disbelief. After a moment though, he smiles, the most gentle look Juno has ever seen. “Only if you’d like to be in mine,” he says shyly.

Juno’s face breaks into a grin. “Heh, yeah. I think I’d like that.”

They stare at each other for another long moment, surrounded by carrion and smoking blasters and fear and confusion, but Juno can hardly focus on any of it. The adrenaline thrumming beneath his skin is going straight to his heart, beating quick and intense for Peter Nureyev.

The moment is, of course, ruined a moment later when through the earpiece Rita coos, “Awww! This is so cute! It’s just like that one scene at the end of—”

“Gah,” Juno shouts, pulling the earpiece out with a wince. He’d forgotten it was there.

“Sorry boss,” Rita’s voice says quietly through the speaker.

Buddy clears her throat then. “As touching as this is, Juno dear, I believe we came here for a few more reasons.”

“I’d love to hear about these _reasons_ ,” Sasha speaks up, her blaster clicking as she aims it now at Buddy. Behind her Dark Matters sunglasses, Juno can tell she’s glaring.

Vespa growls but Buddy puts a hand on her shoulder, silently communicating something that makes Vespa stop trying to move. She turns back to Sasha calmly. “Miss Wire, wasn’t it?”

“Agent,” Sasha corrects. Juno scoffs and she momentarily shifts her glare to him before returning to Buddy. “I am here as a representative of Dark Matters to find intel on the Harbinger, the rest of my mission here is classified and I should not even be telling you this much.”

“Wire,” Juno sighs. “Congrats on the promotion and all but cut the shit for a minute, they’re all with me.”

“Because that’s so reassuring,” Sasha says sarcastically. “If you’re chummy with the goddamn Aurinkos then fine, _you_ tell me what you’re up to here. Right now I have to assume you’re here to break the law. And not to mention, you are interfering with a tier two Dark Matters investigation.”

Juno rolls his eyes. “And you’re interfering with this goddamn night going smoother than a damn boulder,” he says. As he speaks, Buddy silently slips around Sasha and towards Mag's body. Juno remains impassive, and though Peter has noticed her as well, he doesn’t move to stop her from looting the corpse of his father.

“Juno, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. I don’t want to shoot you but know I won’t hesitate to do so,” Sasha says.

Juno stares at her blaster, lips pursed. Peter opens his mouth, ready to say something, but Juno shakes his head before he can get out more than, “Agent Wire.”

“Well Sash,” Juno says as Buddy swipes the emerald ring from Mag’s finger and steps back. “I’m afraid that we are doing something that’s none of your damn business. We aren’t doing anything bad here.”

“Then why are you acting like _that_ with Peter Ransom?” Sasha replies.

Juno raises an eyebrow at Peter. _Ransom_ , he mouths, amused. Peter shakes his head. _Later._ Huffing, Juno turns back to Sasha. “Hey now, don’t give him too much shit here, he came here with me and Rita. That’s all.”

“He is also a creation of one of the most notorious vampires in galactic history,” Sasha says.

“No, really, Sasha,” Juno says, gesturing around the room. “I couldn’t tell.”

“Stop being difficult,” Sasha grits out. “I am trying to be a professional, I don’t have time for your pettiness.”

“If I may,” Buddy cuts in, now back to her original place and with the emerald nowhere in sight. “We were simply here to collect something the Harbinger still owed us. It has been long since acquired and we now would like to get our Juno back so we might go. Our driver is a bit impatient, he’d rather not pay parking fees.”

“And what exactly are you here to _collect,_ Miss Aurinko?”

The smile that curls onto Buddy’s dark red lips is smug as she replies breezily, “That, darling, is classified information. Come along Juno, Vespa.”

Before going, Juno turns to Peter, who looks uncomfortable as Sasha's critical stare bores into him. She hasn’t moved at all, probably to do some more snooping around. As long as she doesn’t get herself killed though, Juno hopes they can just go their separate ways again and meet up again in a decade or so. Maybe they’ll both be out of Coldtown by then.

“Do you want to come too?” Juno asks Peter. I know it’s probably not great to stay here since you just stabbed the head of the house and we should probably… talk.”

“Right, yes,” Peter says, seemingly collecting his thoughts. “If that’s alright with you, Miss Aurinko, I’d love to accompany you.”

“No problem at all, Pete,” Buddy beams. “We might even benefit from some of your experience and connections if you’d be interested in working with us in the future.”

Vespa groans. “Bud, are you sure? We know nothing about him! He killed his father sure but that doesn’t mean we can trust him.”

“I remember someone here doing something very similar once upon a time,” Buddy says lightly, to which Vespa scowls.

“That’s different,” she argues. Buddy gives her a look. Vespa stares, unmoving for a long minute before she throws up her hands and whirls to face Peter. “We find out you’re doing _anything_ fishy and I gut you, got it?”

Peter laughs easily. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

With that settled, their group files out of the room, Rita chattering away through the earpiece again. “It’ll be cool to see ya again, Mistah Glass-Ransom! There’s some really weird stuff around here and neither me or Mistah Steel are tall enough to change the radio station in his room and it makes him real cranky.”

“Rita, he can’t hear you,” Juno reminds her. “Also hey, I’m not _cranky_.”

“Ooooh, right,” Rita says. “That’s fine though, just tell ‘im what I’m saying until you get back into the car.”

Juno sighs. “I’m not going to do that.”

“But _boss_ ,” Rita whines.

“Talk to him yourself,” Juno says. “Here, I’m taking this thing out.” He pulls out the ear piece and hands it to an amused looking Peter who takes it instantly. “Rita wants to talk to you and I don’t want to play messenger.”

Peter grins and takes it, hooking the piece in one of his ear cuffs. “Thank you, Juno. Rita, can you hear me?”

Juno can’t hear her response, but it’s a loud, enthusiastic one that makes Peter laugh. As they make their way out of the mansion through one of the back routes Buddy had found for emergency escape plans, Peter quietly listens and occasionally replies to Rita. Something about it makes Juno feel _warm_ , and he impulsively grabs Peter’s hand.

Though he doesn’t pause in his conversation, Peter glances over at Juno and smiles, interweaving their fingers. Even when they finally reach the final door— a small crawlspace that leads them out back to the dumpster area— and get into Jet’s waiting car, he doesn’t let go.

* * *

The first thing Juno does when they are back at the Lighthouse is pour himself a glass of scotch. He catches Buddy’s eye as she also sits at the bar, getting herself a generously sized glass of wine. “Well Juno,” she says, “I will admit I had my doubts about tonight, but ultimately I think you did well. Everything didn’t go according to plan, but sometimes veering off is the greatest choice one can make. As we can see here, tonight certainly was. You got us to the emerald far quicker than anticipated and with only a minor bit of trouble.”

Juno snorts when Buddy pauses to say _minor_. “It wasn’t all me, though,” he says. “I didn’t actually plan to go in there, I was talking to Ransom but a guard came and I just ended up tagging along to the Harbinger’s personal quarters. It was an accident.”

“An accident it might’ve been, but it was the right decision nonetheless,” Buddy says. She downs half the glass of wine, her dark red eyes sparkling. “With the Emerald of Eirene, Cerberus Coldtown will never be the same again. It’ll be better, hopefully.”

“What’re you going to do with it?” Juno asks, raising an eyebrow. “Are you going to keep it for yourself?”

Buddy laughs. “Goodness no, I have no desire to build my power in such a crude manner. We will be breaking the emerald, scattering it around the galaxy. The pieces will be so small and so rare that eventually the jewel will cease to have any influential qualities.”

Juno raises an eyebrow. “Won’t they just find something else to act like their crown though?”

“Perhaps,” Buddy says. “But it will dismantle things at least for a few more years.”

“Huh, makes sense. Once you do that though, what else? I mean, haven’t you spent a while just trying to get to this specific thing? Now that it’s done, what else?”

Buddy takes another sip of her drink as she says, “I’m not quite sure, darling. Perhaps me and Vespa will retire. We haven’t had a moment’s rest since we met, you know. And what about you? I recall that you and Ransom have some _things_ to work out, if I heard correctly?”

Embarrassed, Juno stares down into his glass. “Uh, yeah, I guess so. Everything’s kind of just been super hectic these past few weeks. I don’t know what’ll happen now.”

Buddy hums, resting a hand on Juno’s shoulder until he looks up at her. When he does, Juno feels like crying. Her eyes are filled with a gentleness, maternal care that Juno had never seen from his own mom, at least that he can remember. Juno has only known Buddy Aurinko for a few days, but she may as well have been there his entire life.

“Well, whatever you decide, you always have a place at the Lighthouse,” she says. “We are a family, after all. I know you’d best go and speak to him now, so please let him know that this offer extends to him as well.”

“Right, thank you Buddy,” Juno says, nodding. “Really. It means a lot.”

“Of course,” she says, “now go on, I don’t want to keep you here for longer than necessary.” Buddy takes the empty glass from Juno’s hand with a pointy smile and makes a shooing motion. “I have a feeling he might be waiting for you.”

When Juno gets upstairs, he’s unsurprised to find that Buddy is right. Peter is leaning in the doorway of the room furthest down the hall, his hair damp and wearing a soft looking yellow sweater. He looks up when he sees Juno, a small, almost shy smile on his lips.

“Juno,” he says.

“Hey,” Juno replies, stopping in front of him. “So uh, we should probably talk, yeah? There’s a… lot of shit that happened.”

“Indeed,” Peter says. He steps back into his temporary room, gesturing for Juno to come inside. It’s the same setup as Juno’s but more bare. He goes to sit on the bed, watching Peter close the door then join him.

“So, uh, what am I supposed to call you?” Juno asks. “Ransom?”

Peter practically giggles, shaking his head vehemently. “I’d much rather you didn’t. That was fabricated by my father, and as you might imagine, it’s not quite the reminder I want right now. Just… call me what you used to.”

“Right. Alright, Nureyev.”

There’s a long pause of silence. Juno watches Peter carefully, the way his fingers twirl a loose thread on his sweater, still shaking slightly. He smells of that cologne still, much to Juno’s quiet delight, and there’s a strand of hair falling in his face. The vulnerability that Peter has laid out in front of him reminds Juno of odd hours driving on empty un-domed roads.

Finally, Peter catches Juno’s eye and says, “I’m so sorry, Juno. I know I said it early, but you deserve to hear it again. When I left you there, I was trying to keep you safe. I thought that if you were not seen with me, if no one knew we were connected, it could keep you out of all the ridiculous politics and murder plots.”

Juno snorts. “We both know that Coldtown can never be safe. That was really stupid of you.”

“It was,” Peter agrees. “But I hope to make up for that. Since I left there, I realized that I made what is possibly the worst mistake of my life— and there have been many of those. After everything that I’ve seen and done, all the collateral that comes from Mag being how he is— how he was— I decided that I couldn’t let people close. It only gets them hurt and it only slows me down, and for a long time that was true, but that is not the case with you, Juno.”

He looks down and takes both of Juno’s hands in his. They’re cold to the touch, but Juno has never felt warmer. “I took a chance at Vicky’s mansion with you and Rita, a chance I hadn’t been planning to take ever again,” Peter admits. “I was sure it would be a mistake, but it turned out to be anything but, and I cared for you so deeply that it frightened me. It’s been so long since I’ve loved, since I’ve trusted someone so much so quickly. I thought it’d be best to break it off as quickly as possible. Instead, it only made me realize that I don’t _want_ to be alone anymore. If you allow me to, I want to be next to you. After everything that’s happened, I’m not sure where my future lies, but I hope that no matter where it goes, you might be there, even if you choose to go back to Hyperion.”

“How would that even work?” Juno asks quietly.

Peter shrugs. “If that was what you chose, and you wanted to keep me in your life, we would find a way, I am entirely sure of it. But if you wanted me to go, well, that would be alright too. We are not dependent on anyone but ourselves to survive. The world will not still if we are not together. But there _is_ a choice, and I’d like to choose to have you in my life, if you choose to have me in yours. I want to properly know you, Juno Steel.”

Juno can’t speak for a long moment. He stares at Peter, head reeling. Then, he begins to laugh. Peter looks surprised at this, but Juno only laughs harder. He presses his forehead to Peter’s. “When did you get so wise?” he giggles. But then, looking up through his lashes, Juno whispers, “I want you in my life too, however that might happen.”

Peter blinks. And then he grins, fangs poking out. “I’m glad,” he says.

For the past few hours, since Juno first saw him in the Harbinger’s ballroom, Juno has wanted nothing more than to kiss Peter Nureyev. He’s wanted to remember the way he tastes, the way the tips of his fangs press lightly into Juno’s lips and his fingers curl around his neck. Looking at Peter in the early morning light, his earnest expression and soft lips, Juno is finally able to.

When Juno leans in, there is no hesitation before Peter is kissing him back. He is still grinning and his fangs scrape against Juno’s lips. It’s hardly been that much time since it last happened, but Juno has missed kissing Peter more than he’d care to admit. There’s something intoxicating about it, something magnetic. Juno surrenders to it easily.

There’s so much more to figure out from here. They’re going to have to break up the emerald and scatter it before anyone finds out. Mag’s vampire friends might try to hunt down Peter, either for his actions or take his still-standing inheritance. Juno will have to look at that exit token again, and truly think. He’ll have to balance everything he knows and everything he cares about on a scale and see where he lands— in or out of Coldtown.

But for now, Juno is okay to put it aside to think about later. He watches Peter take Juno’s hand and press a light kiss to the knuckles, eyes blood red and filled with promise, and decides that, at least for this moment, he is content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH IT'S DONE!! i've been working on this fic since august and it's actually done??? and i did that myself?? i'm so proud of myself you have no idea, this fic has been my baby and i'm both sad and ecstatic that it's done holy fuck.
> 
> anyway thank you to everyone who's read this fic from any point in time, especially those who commented/gave kudos/hyped me up/etc i love you so much. i've got a bunch more coming for penumbra, so i will see yall soon. til then, you can catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/adverbialnouns) or [tumblr](http://adverbialstarlight.tumblr.com)


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